The Bayside girls soccer team seemed decimated in the offseason by the losses of star striker Despina Psomopoulos, goalkeeper Nicole Carroll and midfielder Chelsea Cabarcas. Compound that with the change in the season from spring to fall and coach Joe Corrado staying with his Commodores boys team and you have a recipe for disaster.
Instead, Bayside seems to have kept the status quo — at least for its first game. The Commodores and rival Francis Lewis, the PSAL Queens A East winner last year, played to a scoreless draw Tuesday in Fresh Meadows. The two teams also tied twice last year and the Patriots have a solid, young core back.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, because we lost three key players and I’m determined to show everyone that we don’t need that one player to win,” Bayside senior sweeper Rebecca Arce said. “It takes a team effort to compete with teams like Francis Lewis.”
Francis Lewis did dominate tpossession and tested the Bayside defense and goalkeeper Adriana Coppola numerous times throughout the game. Time after time, Coppola came up with a big save or Arce came up with another big play to stop the Patriots offense.
“I thought that we dominated for most of the game,” first-year Patriots coach Jeovani Paredes said. “I feel like we had the upper hand for the most of the game, but we couldn’t find the back of the net.”
In the first half, Arce blocked a wide open shot on a Francis Lewis breakway. On the next play, Francis Lewis junior Yessica Bustos fired a rocket that was sure to go in, but Coppola made a miraculous save to tip the ball over the net.
“Adriana stepped up big time today,” Bayside coach Magdalini Kassimis said of her new keeper. “I think whatever self doubt she had of herself after the save she made. She surprised the heck out of me today. She stayed cool under pressure.”
In the second half, it seemed as though Francis Lewis was finally going to have its opportunity to seize the win on a penalty kick by Bustos, but luck was on the Commodores’ side as the kick went wide of the net.
“I think we did well,” Patriots sophomore Gena Koutsounadis said. “We had a lot of chances to score but couldn’t capitalize.”
While Arce wasn’t surprised by the draw, Kassimis wasn’t ready to proclaim Bayside as the same team it has been. Before an injury-plagued spring season, the Commodores had made the semifinals in each of the previous three seasons. Lewis, meanwhile, is coming off its first trip to the semis.
“It was the first game of the season,” Kassmis said. “It was a little bit tough because we played defense for most of the game. We hung in their though and they were doing the best that we can. We had two or three shots on goal and we have a lot of room for improvement.”
