Come late October, if the Long Beach boys soccer program once against finds itself on the kind deep postseason run it made a year ago, there is a very good chance that the Marines and senior goalkeeper Jayden Zarco will look back on Friday as the turning point when they first glimpsed it was possible. Long Beach may have had five starters back from the squad that reached the last season's Class AA semifinals, but it had scuffled out of the gate with just one win in its first five division games. However the Marines now have reason to believe after a 1-0 Nassau AA-I victory over first-place Jericho at Long Beach’s Alumni Field.
“We’ve been unfocused all season,” said Zarco, who made six of his 11 saves in the second half as Jericho played virtually every minute after halftime in the Marines’ end of the field. “This shows we’re still in this thing.” “One win can change a whole season .
. . it can motivate you to see what’s possible,” Long Beach coach Leo Palacio said.
“I called the returning players together before the game and told them ‘it’s on your shoulders’ and they raised the level of the entire team.” Long Beach (3-2-2, 2-2-2) counterpunched against the Jayhawks’ highly-organized attack with either long kicks from strong-legged Zarco from the goal or converting turnovers into breakaways by Josias Saravia, Ryder Heitefuss and Nick Amantea. They broke through with 14:53 left in the first half with a beautiful goal.
Heitefuss, a junior, man.