Joanna Soares stressed to her team the importance of limiting turnovers and mistakes at halftime. The Leon Goldstein coach watch bad passes and touches nearly turn into goals. While the Dolphins were lucky enough to have their mistakes not hurt them, they took full advantage of a Brooklyn Tech miscue.
“It just makes everything feel more comfortable,” Soares said. “Now they feel like they have more of a chance.”
Pamela Chernyakhovsky trapped an errant goal kick 20 yards out from Alexandra Reeves, dribbled into the box and scored the tying goal early in the second half. It set off a string of three scores in 12 minutes that propelled Goldstein to a 4-2 win over rival Brooklyn Tech in PSAL Brooklyn A-III girls soccer last Tuesday at Dyker Park. The victory keeps the team’s division title hopes alive in their regular-season finale.
“You get happy,” Chernyakhovsky, a junior midfielder, said of her goal. “You kind of get a little bit more into the game. You want to score more.”
Brooklyn Tech (8-1-1) grabbed the early lead on a pretty strike from star Niri Halperin to the top left corner of the net from deep along the right side in the 10th minute. But after Chernyakhovsky’s score in the 54th minute it would not lead again. Star forward Pamela Wishart ran onto a through ball up the right side line and buried a shot to the far post five minutes later.
“She can play the most precise ball at the perfect time,” Wishart said of Chernyakhovsky.
The third came when Wishart poked a ball to Chernyakhovsky, who then split two defenders with a pass to Caitlin Corcoran for a goal in the 66th minute to give Goldstein (10-2-0) a 3-1 lead. Tech was without goalie Ryan O’Connell because of a concussion. The junior was a star in her team’s 4-3 win in the first game with Goldstein. Backup Dorothy Kats made seven saves filling in.
“Their main goal is phenomenal, but this girl wasn’t half bad either,” Wishart said.
The Engineers pulled closer on Olivia Wargo’s goal from the 20 yards out in the 69th minute after a corner kick from Halperin, who was marked all game by Michelle Plasencia. Goldstein got a fine defensive play from Sarah Shatan to take away a potential dangerous scoring chance. She was able to kick the ball away at the top of the box from Halperin, who had just run past three defenders.
Wishart put the finishing touches on the win with a quick answer and her PSAL-leading 31st goal. She headed a Chernyakhovsky corner kick just under the crossbar for a goal in the 69th minute. It was something Wishart said she had been practicing recently.
“I knew where she was, so I was aiming for her head hoping she would get it in,” Chernyakhovsky said.
Goldstein could have been down more at the half, but Brooklyn Tech couldn’t finish off some nifty combination passes. Rebecca Candelaria made a diving stop on Halperin after she stole a clearing pass in the 23rd minute. It cost the Engineers a chance to lock up their second outright division title in three years. They need to win both of their last two games against FDR and Fort Hamilton or Goldstein claims the crown. The Dolphins will be scoreboard watching.
“Nothing bad toward Brooklyn Tech,” Wishart said. “But we want to be in first this year.”
