Girls Soccer: Huskies Win Season Opener

A strong defensive effort and a Cassidy Cohen goal led the Harrison Huskies to a 1-0 win over the Nanuet Golden Knights in the season opener for both teams Tuesday afternoon at Harrison High School.

Several days before the game Harrison Coach Jon-Erik Zappala made a defensive switch, inserting some of last year's starting offense to defensive positions this year. He felt that the switch would allow his team to mesh a little better on the field.

"It was a strategy that I just decided to do a few days before the game. I have girls who are good defenders but they are just not there, they're not cohesive yet. The girls that were the starting midfield last year play on a line together anyway so they are used to it," said Zappala. "At first you could tell that they wanted to come forward, but they got settled and everything started to mesh, we are finally getting some chemistry."

The new defensive line shut out the Golden Knights for the entire game but it took an entire half for the Huskies to get on the board. Both the Golden Knights and the Huskies were unable to sustain any offensive momentum for more then a few minutes in the first half. Each team was forced to take shots from the outside and there was rarely anyone close to the net to capitalize on rebounds.

But that changed in the second half when Harrison came out with a much more aggressive offense. It took the Huskies only 70 seconds to score after halftime. The ball found Cohen in front of the goal and she was able to trickle the ball past Nanuet goalie Melissa Richards for the game's only goal.

"It was the right place right time," said Zappala. "It was a great build-up and solid shot but it was just being in the right place at the right time."

After Cohen's goal Harrison continued to keep the pressure on the Golden Knight defense, and had several scoring opportunities and close shots. But they were unable to capitalize, eventually holding on for the one point win.

"We lacked communication," said Zappala. "The second half was great, communication is something we are struggling with and we need to overcome."

It wasn't all good news for Harrison on Tuesday. Despite the victory, Harrison suffered a multitude of injuries.

Defender Alexis Rubenstein suffered a stress fracture in her foot. Goalie Jackie Fonseca was taken out of the game at halftime after she collided with a Nanuet offensive player. Sarah Berman twisted her knee and had to be carted off the field. It is too early to determine the extent of the injuries but if any of those players miss an extended period of time it could hurt the team down the stretch.

Nanuet Head Coach Mike Henderson declined to comment after the game.

Harrison's next challenge is against one of the best teams in the state, Briarcliff, on Sept. 13 at Harrison High School.