Oceanside girls soccer's Leigha Zaman nets late equalizer in draw with MacArthur

Trailing by a goal with less than two minutes remaining, the Oceanside girls soccer team looked like it would come up just short. Then, Leigha Zaman touched the ball.

Zaman received a perfectly weighted ball from midfielder Ava Bowers and rocketed a shot toward the left post beyond the outstretched arms of MacArthur goalie Jocelyn Cleary. The problem was, nobody, including Zaman, seemed to know whether the ball crossed the line.

“I had no clue,” Zaman said. “I kind of closed my eyes, and I thought it didn’t go in for a second.”

But when the referee whistled and pointed his arm toward midfield, Zaman and the home Oceanside crowd erupted in cheers as the Sailors earned a 1-1 draw against MacArthur in Nassau Conference AAA/AA-I on Monday.

“Everyone was running, it was just excitement,” Zaman said. “I was about to tear up, just because of the thrill.”

Sophomore captain Gianna Visone played well in the midfield, covering a lot of turf on offense and defense. The Sailors (1-2-2), who totaled 11 shots, had two of their four shots on goal come in the first 10 minutes.

“It’s the final third, we need to try get our shots on and score, but we’re always giving our effort,” Zaman said.

MacArthur struck first after Oceanside goalkeeper Julianna Ewashko suffered a first-half injury, subbing out for Estela Quintero. Off the drop-ball restart, Bella Calabro played a perfect ball toward the right corner for Ysabelle Perillo. Perillo lofted the ball into the box for Gina Iannuzzi, who powered it in for her first goal of the season.

Iannuzzi, a sophomore, played as an attacker in 2023 but started at right back on Monday. It’s a position she’s comfortable playing and one that’s needed, as coach Steve Costello noted the Generals were missing four starters due to injury.

There were plenty of positives for MacArthur (1-2-1). The Generals hit the crossbar and narrowly headed the ball over the net twice in the first half. And despite the late goal, the defense played well behind center back Caitlin Barry and sophomore Abigail Zazulka.

Zazulka denied Zaman of a possible first-half goal when she made a crucial slide tackle to deny a breakaway opportunity, perfectly pinning the ball before launching a counterattack.

“In our program, that’s a necessity,” Costello said. “We don’t have positions; we have soccer players.”

Both sides will likely circle Oct. 10 on the calendar, for what should be a thrilling rematch.