Forest Hills believed it was its game to lose, especially at home with a chance to move closer to a division crown.
“We came into this game thinking, this is our home field, we can’t lose,” junior midfielder Julia Svitsky said. “We can’t even tie. We have to win.”
The Rangers had an early lead, but could not hold on in an eventual 2-1 loss to Long Island City in PSAL Queens A-V girl soccer Tuesday. They fell two points behind the Bulldogs for the division lead with four games left. The teams tied 1-1 in their first meeting.
“We missed a golden opportunity today,” Forest Hills coach Bob Sprance said. … “We didn’t make them pay for their mistakes.”
Forest Hills (5-2-1) got a 1-0 lead when Jessica Giraldo scored to the far post off a deflected Julia Svitsky shot in the 15th minute, but LIC (5-0-3) quickly answered. Chantell Chimbo poked a shot into the net to the near post in the 24th minute and Geraldine Huisa scored the winner off a pass from Estefani Chimbo nine minutes later to take a 2-1 lead. Forest Hills was playing without injured stopper Areta Ceka.
“We made mistakes,” Svitsky said. “The first goal was a mistake. It was a little miscommunication between the goalie and one of our players. The second goal we should have had it, but we didn’t.”
Forest Hills dominated the majority of the second half, but only created a few scoring chances thanks to the play of Bulldogs sweeper Katarzyna Kasza. The senior was able to deflect away crosses into the box and chase down dribblers. She blocked three straight Forest Hills shots early in the second half, including a blast from Svitsky. The Rangers’ best chance came with less than a minute to play. Giraldo sent a cross from Natalia Calderon just wide.
“That was the [play] that would have helped us tie it,” Sprance said. “I felt a tie would have been fair for both teams.”
Instead the loss has Forest Hills thinking what might have been and fighting an upward battle for the division crown.
“We outplay teams and we can’t put the ball in the net,” Sprance said. “We make defensive errors and they score.”
