Injury plagued V.S. South advances

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Attempting to defend a championship in any sport is typically a challenge. Doing so while dealing with a slew of unforeseen adversity can make it a downright chore.
For the reigning state champion South High Falcons, moving up to the most competitive girls soccer conference in the state was one thing. But, having to deal with serious injuries to numerous standout performers, including junior Mia Asenjo, the 2018 New York State Player of the Year, put the team behind the eight ball.
After going 21-0 in 2018, the Lady Falcons scuffled through and up-and-down regular season, winning just four times. However, as opponents learned a year ago, they are not short on intestinal fortitude. They showed it in their opening round playoff match with visiting Kennedy last Saturday morning.
Senior Kayla Camacho found the back of the net with 2:07 remaining on the clock to break a tie and give No. 5 South a 2-1 victory in a match that the Falcons thoroughly dominated. With the goal, Camacho became the leading scorer in program history. Senior Bryanna Pizarro, the Nassau Conference AB-I Most Valuable Player, assisted on both goals.
“We dominated the second half, but obviously you start to get a little worried because we hadn’t put one in,” South coach Demetri Adrahtas said. “When you don’t convert and you leave it to chance, bad things happen. It was great to see Kayla come through and become the school’s all-time leading scorer.”

The Lady Cougars got on the board just two minutes into the match when Nicole Makai headed the ball in off a direct kick from Giuliana Mazzaferro. It would be one of Kennedy’s few scoring opportunities.
The Lady Falcons evened things up at the 20-minute mark of the opening half. Pizarro, who basically controlled the flow of the match, made a nifty feed to Lexxi McNeil, and the fleet-footed senior buried it to tie the score.
The second half was about the Cougars holding on for dear life. With Asenjo, Hailey Roberts, and Nia Anjou all on the shelf, South’s resolve was on display. Junior Kaitlin Ross and sophomore Gabby Bury were solid, and senior Jessica Sierzaga, who was playing her first match in over a year, controlled the middle of the field.
With time winding down, Camacho warded off a defender with her back to the net, took the pass from Pizarro, spun to her left and fired a shot passed the keeper’s outstretched right arm and into the top left corner of the net for the winner.
South advanced to take on No. 4 South Side in the quarterfinals, with the winner playing in this Saturday’s semis at 3 p.m. at Cold Spring Harbor High School. The teams split their two regular season meetings. “Going forward it’s going to be a tall task,” Adrahtas said. “We’ll be playing a strong team. We’re going to have to shore things up. We were exposed a little bit in the middle of the field in the first half. We’ll have to be better.”