Dominic Mendoza's goal helps Long Beach boys soccer defeat first-place Jericho
Dominic Mendoza exults after taking pass from Ryder Heitefuss and scoring from 28 yards on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. Credit: David Meisenholder
Come late October, if the Long Beach boys soccer program once against finds itself on the kind deep postseason run it made a year ago, there is a very good chance that the Marines and senior goalkeeper Jayden Zarco will look back on Friday as the turning point when they first glimpsed it was possible.
Long Beach may have had five starters back from the squad that reached the last season's Class AA semifinals, but it had scuffled out of the gate with just one win in its first five division games. However the Marines now have reason to believe after a 1-0 Nassau AA-I victory over first-place Jericho at Long Beach’s Alumni Field.
“We’ve been unfocused all season,” said Zarco, who made six of his 11 saves in the second half as Jericho played virtually every minute after halftime in the Marines’ end of the field. “This shows we’re still in this thing.”
“One win can change a whole season . . . it can motivate you to see what’s possible,” Long Beach coach Leo Palacio said. “I called the returning players together before the game and told them ‘it’s on your shoulders’ and they raised the level of the entire team.”
Long Beach (3-2-2, 2-2-2) counterpunched against the Jayhawks’ highly-organized attack with either long kicks from strong-legged Zarco from the goal or converting turnovers into breakaways by Josias Saravia, Ryder Heitefuss and Nick Amantea. They broke through with 14:53 left in the first half with a beautiful goal.
Heitefuss, a junior, maneuvered toward the right corner and made a cross-field pass to sophomore Dominic Mendoza. From about 28 yards out, he bent a perfect shot off the far post to break a scoreless tie.
“I’ve been working on that shot all summer,” said Mendoza, who now has five goals on the season. “I made four of them at (Thursday’s) practice.”
“That was right where I wanted to get him the ball,” Heitefuss said.
Jericho (5-1-1, 4-1-1) owned the entire second half, making well executed attacks on the Marines’ goal. It got a dozen solid chances that ended in one of three ways: turned away off the heads of Braeden Konop and Gavin O’Grady, sailing over the crossbar or in the grasp of Zarco’s confident hands.
“We were the better team and we had better chances and got everything but a goal,” Jericho coach Dani Braga said. “Sometimes a loss can serve you and we will be a better team down the road after playing in this pressure. It’s a hiccup. None of my (four) state champion teams went undefeated.”
Zarco was the goalkeeper for last season’s playoff run but began the season in the midfield. When Long Beach stumbled early, Palacio asked him to return to the net.
“I think of myself as a midfielder, but defense is more important for this team and the team always comes first,” Zarco said.
“His leadership is phenomenal,” Palacio said. “He always puts the program first.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.