Varsity Boys Soccer Make Epic Comeback, Beat Archrival East Islip in OT

The West Islip Varsity boys soccer team opened their 2010 season by spotting rival East Islip a two-goal lead in the first 15 minutes, only to storm back with two goals by senior forward Cameron Eiseman in the last ten minutes of regulation to force overtime.

Within two minutes of overtime, Eiseman assisted a pass inside to Colin O'Connor who knocked it to the right of the goalie and into the back of the net to seal a 3-2 victory.

"We wanted to score, we wanted to end it, and we weren't losing," Eiseman said of the team's mindset heading into overtime.

East Islip slipped two goals by senior keeper Kyle Carrick early, the first at the 32-minute mark by forward Keith McKenna and the second just six minutes later to take an early 2-0 lead which put the Lions in a hole.

"We came out a little flat," head coach Ed Pieron said. "I think we got out-worked the first couple minutes of the game. The first goal by McKenna, he's probably the best forward in the county, he made a tremendous shot with a tremendous move. The second goal the ball should've been cleared but aside from those goals I thought we were pretty even in the first half."

After putting some pressure on East Islip and playing solid defense to round out the half, the team huddled up before the second half, confident they could come back.

"The message was just try to win the half," Pieron said. "You score one goal you put yourself in position to tie the game. All we said was try to win this half."

The score remained the same until the 8:37 mark when Eiseman launched a kick from the right side past a diving keeper and into the left side of the net to make it a one-goal game. With seven minutes left, Eiseman found himself in front of the net and was able to knock a rebound off East Islip's keeper into the goal to tie the score at two.

"Coach has been telling us all year to frame the ball," Eiseman said. "You have to have someone at the near post, far post and in front of the goal. The goalie dropped it; I was framing the goal in the center and just hit it in."

After being down by two goals for close to sixty minutes, the Lions found themselves tied at 2-2 and heading into overtime in the first game of the season against their rivals. The stage was set for a big finish, and the Lions delivered.

"It took them 70 minutes to get into a rhythm but a couple adjustments here and there and we started to put the pressure on," Pieron said. "Cameron's been our best player so far from day one of the preseason. Those last couple of minutes he was tremendous."

After starting off the season with a win, the team will look to continue its success when they travel to Brentwood on Tuesday, Sept. 4 for the second game of the season. The game is slated for a 4 p.m start.

"Going into Brentwood we want to start off the game better, keep it close and see what happens," Pieron said. "These guys can work. I'm proud of them."