Cohen, Huskies Prevail in Final Minutes

After a last-minute rush down field, Harrison finally found the look it was waiting for all game as the ball settled in front of Cassidy Cohen in front of the Ossining goal.

The senior took aim and connected, sneaking the ball past the Ossining goaltender with only minutes remaining in Wednesday's girls soccer game at Harrison High School.

The goal was all the home team would need, as the Huskies went on to win the defensive battle 1-0. 

Early in the game and throughout the first half neither team could get into any rhythm offensively. Both the Huskies and the Pride struggled to get shots on goal thanks to hard-nosed defense by both teams.

“They were moving the ball, I thought we capitalized in the first half,” said Harrison Coach Jon-Erik Zappala. “That’s one thing we are striving to do this year is to be a first half team, and we keep working on it.”

Ossining struggled to find rhythm on offense, although they had their share of scoring chances early on.

“I thought we were just trying to figure things out,” said Ossining Coach Philip Ishmael. “We haven’t played Harrison in about two or three years so we knew things were different, they have a new team, a new coach and we were just trying to figure out and assess the situation. We tried to exploit it a bit and we played much better in the second half.”

Both teams brought a faster tempo into the second half, but it wouldn't show on the scoreboard until late. Both defenses were tested a lot more in the second half and both goal keepers played well to keep the ball out of the net.

Ossining had their best scoring opportunity with about 20 minutes remaining in the game. Junior Andrea Neski took a penalty kick for the Pride and the ball looked like it would sneak inside the goal, just outside of the reach of Harrison’s Jackie Fonseca. Instead, the ball hit the goal post and the game remained scoreless.

Harrison would finally end the scoreless tie with minutes left when Izzy Sheck found Cohen for the games only goal. 

“I was just in the right place at the right time,” said Cohen. “The girls were feeding it up and I finally got the ball and found a hole and put it in the back of the net.”

Zappala said it was the look he was waiting for most of the afternoon.

“I saw Cassidy be in the right place at the right time the whole game,” said Zappala. “She sees the game differently on the field, I keep telling her to check to the ball and that time she waited, held her spot and she just knows the game. She was in the right place for the feed.”

Harrison senior Nina Sarmiento left the game with a knee injury with less then fifteen minutes remaining. She appeared to twist her knee going for a ball.

Hopefully Sarmiento will be able to rejoin the Huskies for their next game on Friday, as Harrison will look to remain undefeated against Pleasantville.