Glen Cove ends on positive note

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Experience usually plays a key role in high school sports success at the varsity level. At the beginning of the season, the Glen Cove girls’ soccer team was looking at a 2019 campaign having graduated over a dozen seniors just a few months prior. Coach Peter Falen had called up multiple girls from JV to help take on a litany of Conference AB5 foes.
The Lady Big Red finished its 3-6-1 Conference AB5 schedule with a redeeming 4-3 victory over Hewlett on the road on Oct. 21. The Lady Bulldogs of Hewlett were successful in defeating Glen Cove by a 5-2 score on Oct. 2, but Falen believes the ability of his group to be resilient and snag a late-season win on the road speaks to the team’s progress.
“It obviously shows improvement from where we were earlier in the year,” Falen said. “The inexperience was our biggest issue, more than anything, but we were coming along at the end of season.”
That late-season improvement has pushed the Lady Big Red to a 2-1-1 record in its last 4 games. In that span, the group was able to beat Roslyn 1-0 on Oct. 12, before tying to Great Neck North and losing to Great Neck South.
“At the end of the year we started limiting goals allowed, which gave us new life,” Falen said. “Because we were so young, more experienced teams were able to take advantage of certain aspects of our game.”

Up until the penultimate win of the season against Hewlett, Glen Cove was outscored 51-17 by opponents. But Falen heavily attributes most of the team’s struggles to a lack of familiarity with the level of play and low turnout to summer workouts.
“We did not have a great summer turnout, which is where I believe it all starts,” Falen said. “But that is because we had this transition year where we graduated all these seniors. Now, we only graduate three.”
Those three seniors have been very important to the Lady Big Red, though. Seniors Nicole Reyes, Alessia Rodriguez, and Melissa Patino have played their last game in red, but their impact will be remembered.
Rodriguez was the most experienced out of the bunch and was one of Glen Cove’s leading scorers this season. Patino was one of the most outspoken captains on the team and was multifaceted. “She was able to play any position we asked and she pulled everyone together,” Falen said. Reyes only played for Glen Cove for one season, but her impact was felt on the defensive end, being able to utilize her quick feet to stymie oncoming attackers.
Otherwise, Glen Cove will return the rest of its 2019 roster, including Edith Vanegas (5 goals, 2 assists), Tammy Perez (2 goals, 3 assists), Bella Juarez (3 goals), Tatiana Ferman (2 goals), Addison Huvane (1 goal, 1 assist) Samantha Morales (1 goal) and Lily Knobel (73 saves).
“I’m proud of the way the girls responded in the later part of the season,” Falen said. “They weren’t afraid to play teams again that had beat them before, and I think that says something.”