For Massapequa, it wasn’t revenge — but it was progress. After dropping one-goal heartbreakers to Oceanside in last year’s Nassau AAA final and again earlier this season, on Tuesday night, Massapequa battled to finish in a draw at 1.
“This is a team that we lost to in the county finals last year,” Massapequa coach Bruce Stegner said. “This is a team we have to beat if we’re going to be successful this year, so for us, it’s a step in the right direction.”
The first half ended scoreless, with Massapequa goalkeeper Reese Reustle making four big saves to keep Oceanside off the board. She finished the game with seven saves.
“Reese is one of the best keepers in Nassau County,” Stegner said. “She just commands the box back there. She’s very vocal and I know there’s not going to be many goals against her.”
Five minutes into the second half, sophomore Madelyn Ferguson finished off a cross from Olivia Trojanowski, getting Massapequa on the board first.
“We were happy with it being 0-0 at halftime,” Ferguson said. “But we knew that coming into the second half, we really had to focus on finishing those opportunities we have on goal, and that’s what we did.”
The score was Massapequa’s first in four games, and Reustle said ending the drought could give the team a boost moving forward. They now sit with a record of 4-6-2 overall.
“That goal was definitely a huge breakthrough for us,” Reustle said. “We’ve been struggling to score, but hopefully we’ve now found our groove.”
Just 10 minutes after Massapequa broke through, Oceanside senior Molly Boller struck back for Oceanside to even the score with a shot through defenders in the box.
“After they got the first goal in the second half, we all snapped and realized we needed to get back in order,” Boller said. “The ball was in the box, just getting banged around and being hit by different people. Then I saw it, and kicked it as hard as I could, and it went in.”
The final 23 minutes of play finished out scoreless, leaving the teams to settle for a hard-fought draw. Oceanside (4-3-3) keeper Ella Murray finished with four saves.
“Tough games like these are always so much fun,” Boller said. “These are the kind of matchups we look forward to during the season — the ones where you fight until the last minute.”
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