Watching Aycin Yalcin head corner kicks and throw-ins is nothing new to FDR. The sophomore is the Cougars main target on set pieces because of her height and skill in the air. She headed balls just wide of the post and off the cross bar in the opening minutes Thursday afternoon.
“I didn’t know how to hit it,” Yalcin said. .… “I guess I wasn’t lucky and it didn’t go in.”
So she tried a different approach.
Yalcin had her back to the goal and a defender in her way in the box as Abije Kaloshi’s throw came to her in the 37th minute. She flicked her head and the ball backwards to score what proved to be the winner for No. 2 FDR in a 2-1 win over third-seeded Richmond Hill in the PSAL Class B semifinals Thursday at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. It is the Cougars first ever appearance in the final.
“She was all excited,” Cougars coach Ashley Buttacavoli said. “We have never actually seen anything like that.”
FDR (15-0) took the lead when Natalie Calixto’s corner kick deflected in by the near post off a Richmond Hill defender less than three minutes into the game. Richmond Hill (14-2) got even on a Jessica Cornejo free kick from 25 yards out just minutes into the second half. The senior, who said she was just trying to make a play for her teammates, bent the kick over the head of FDR goalie Fazilat Musinova to cut the Cougars lead in half, to 2-1.
The Lions spent the majority of the second half putting pressure on Musinova and the FDR defense. They played with greater energy and were able to play more balls into the box after FDR dominated the first half.
“More concentration, better passing,” Cornejo said.
With 20 minutes left in the game Richmond Hill had three straight shots during a scramble inside the box. Musinova had the first shot bounce out of her hands and off her chin before finally corralling the final attempt.
“The ball was coming and didn’t know where the ball was coming from,” Musinova said. “Everyone was kicking the ball. I wanted to catch the ball.”
It was just her third game starting in net. The sophomore took over between the pipes when junior keeper Evelyn Mejia was moved to the backline to sure up the Cougars defense.
“We worked with her a couple of days and she seemed to hold up,” Buttacavoli.
She will need to continue to play well when FDR takes on defending champion, No. 1 Flushing, in the final at 10 a.m. Sunday morning at Randall’s Island.
“We did everything we could to be here,” Yalcin said. “We are happy that we are here.”
