Kennedy Girls Soccer Takes Down Valley Stream, Rematch With Calhoun Next

The Kennedy High girls soccer team battled back after falling behind early to Valley Stream Central at Fireman's Field on Wednesday, collecting a 3-1 victory.

The Lady Cougars (6-2-1) avenged a tough loss on their home field to the same Lady Eagles team last month.

Senior Morgan Kitton scored her team-high 10th goal in the 34th minute to tie the score at 1-11 just before halftime. The Lady Cougars were trailing for much of the first half following an early goal by Valley Stream junior Shanice Robe in the 7th minute when she broke past the Kennedy defense to put in her teams' lone score.

"We had a rough loss to this team earlier in the season," Kennedy coach Janine Bizelia said. "They had a really strong forward who just slipped through and scored early. We just needed to keep our heads up and stay focused from then on."

It wouldn't be long following the start of the second half before Kennedy would find themselves in front en route to their crucial league victory. Freshman Krista Trinidad scored the go-ahead goal in the 54th minute, followed by a third score from senior Ilana Cohen just two minutes later.

"We are continuing to battle for that second spot with Calhoun, so every win is important," Bizelia said. "Looking at this team, we knew their strong assets, so we took advantage of that and picked up the pace and pressure."

Kitton got her team on the board when things were looking to get out of hand, despite Kennedy being able to outshoot Valley Stream 26-7.

"I think we pressured every ball pretty well, but we need to settle the ball a little bit more," Kitton said. "I think we need to work harder in our practices and keep our energy up as a team."

Kennedy senior Stacey Wolfson, along with help from freshman Sara Rothery and senior Danielle Liotta, anchored a solid defensive effort from start to finish, allowing the Lady Eagles to put just three shots on goal against freshman goalkeeper Nicole Liotta.

"We just came in with a lot of intensity knowing there was some pressure to win this time since we lost the first game against them," Wolfson said. "Our passion came out in the game and it ended up really well."

Valley Stream, led by junior goalkeeper Christine Rivera, who finished with 12 saves, looked strong in the start but was unable to fend off the persistent attack of Kennedy up front.

"I think we had a good chance right in the beginning," Valley Stream coach Mike Caputo said. "Toward the middle of the game, we didn't win first touches and it fell apart from there. It was more the balls won in the middle of the field. That's how Bellmore won this game today."

Kennedy is currently sitting in third place in Conference III behind Mepham and Calhoun, whom the Lady Cougars will face off against next week in what should serve to be an intense match-up after the two cross town rivals drew a hard-fought tie last month.

"Our next game is Calhoun, who has a similar style of play with us," Bizelia said. "It's just a matter of adjusting a couple of different positions. We need to just keep on our game, staying confident, and making sure we play hard the whole way in that game."

Kennedy will take on the Lady Colts of Calhoun next Tuesday at home at 4:30 p.m.