Lynbrook held its annual Soccer Day on Oct. 1. Both the girls’ and boys’ varsity teams hosted opponents at Marion Street to fundraise for Nassau Suffolk Services for Autism. The opponents were not too much trouble for the Owls, with each team winning its game with a score of 4-0. 

The girls’ varsity team took the field against the Jericho Jayhawks. For the first 30 minutes, the game was a close one. Neither team was able to put the ball into the net until Captain Tyla Vuotto took over the game, scoring the first goal of the contest with 11 minutes remaining in the first half. A nice setup from sophomore Gaby Ramirez would help Vuotto score her second goal, followed by her third goal for the hat-trick, coming off an assist from freshman Ella Carroll to end the half. The second half was no different. Vuotto scored her fourth goal of the day off senior Sara Cilingir’s assist. That would be all the scoring for the girls’ contest, as junior Katie Sharkey defended the net for a shutout in the 4-0 win. 

The game plan was to come out very offensively, which was accomplished with the great showing from senior Tyla Vuotto. “We wanted to come out intense and with as much energy as possible to get the early lead,” Vuotto said. “Playing on Soccer Day was different than any other game because this game was played to fundraise for a great cause, so it was super fun and meant a lot to my teammates and me.” The girls would follow the shutout victory by winning three out of their four games, while tying the contest against the Division Dragons, to go 3-0-1 leading up to the playoffs.

The ending of one game meant the start of another. The boys’ varsity team played the Carle Place Frogs for its Soccer Day game, and the team came out the gates firing. Sophomore Samuel Moscheni shot one into the net for a 1-0 lead only 52 seconds into the match. An own-goal two minutes later put the Frogs down early, and it only got worse for them from that point. Senior Sebastian Cuenca would add on to the lead by contributing two more goals, with the latter one coming off senior Riley Fowler’s assist to cap off a four-goal first half of soccer. There was not much action for the remainder of the game, as the scoreboard remained the same for the second half. Senior Joseph Patitucci kept Carle Place off the scoreboard with a shutout of his own to help Lynbrook grab the win and sweep both Soccer Day games. 

Boys’ varsity coach Joshua Berlin believes in giving the players a chance to support the charity throughout the game. “We try and make it a non-league contest, so the result does not impact the season standings while also making sure all of our players get a chance to participate in the game.” This coincides with the game plan heading into the game, as Berlin believed in getting a lead early: “We wanted to make sure we played well with our first-tier players and set the tone early in the game. Once we scored four goals, we started rotating out players and putting in players who maybe don’t get as many minutes in league contests.” This game supplied momentum that helped the team keep a winning mentality. “The continued success helped us complete a tremendous win at Hewlett two days later and continues to build our confidence each game,” added Berlin. 

Playing in his last Soccer Day of his Lynbrook career, senior Gabe Moscheni enjoyed the charity event. “It felt better to win because the day is all about the sport, and everyone is there to support us. The momentum from soccer day has helped us win most of our remaining games,” Moscheni said.