Briana Ciccone drives Garden City girls soccer toward a win vs. South Side
Garden City's Briana Ciccone manages the ball against South Side on Saturday. Credit: /James Messerschmidt
Briana Ciccone might technically be a defender, but anyone who watches the junior play for the Garden City girls soccer team immediately realizes that the left back has the talent to perform all over the pitch.
That versatility translated into lovely scissor moves, strong tackles and the game-deciding goal for Garden City in its 2-1 home win over South Side in a battle between first and second-place teams in Nassau Conference AAA/AA-I Saturday afternoon.
Ciccone and senior Chloe Benik opted for a quick restart off the game’s first corner kick with less than three minutes remaining in the first half. The two perfectly timed a give-and-go sequence that ended up with Ciccone firing a shot toward the far post for the eventual game-winning score.
It looked so clean that it could’ve been scripted. In fact, it was.
“It was planned, we worked on it really hard in practice,” Ciccone said. “It was great to see it executed well.”
Ciccone also kickstarted the game’s opening goal, playing junior LeeLee Gaffney down the left line. Gaffney beat her defender and fired a shot on goal. South Side goalie Abigail Gruner did well to push the ball aside, but Benik was right there to finish the second chance with 16 minutes left before the break.
Garden City took the 2-0 lead into halftime. Sophomore center back Madsie Patrickakos helped keep South Side to just one shot on target through the game’s first 40 minutes. Alongside Deanna Prisco and Victoria Ottomanelli, Garden City has allowed no more than one goal in nine of its 11 games this season.
Patrickakos said the key to staying the course lies on the mental side.
“Communicating and keeping each other up and being positive in the back,” she said. “We just have to continue keeping that up.”
South Side (5-3-1) stayed in the game and played its best ball late, as the Cyclones took seven shots - four on target - in the second half . Those offensive opportunities yielded six second-half corner kicks and the Cyclones' lone goal, off a corner from junior Brooke Doreste. Senior Sienna Connolly met Doreste's cross with a powerful header, scoring with 18:47 left in the game.
Goalie Marisa Patrissi helped Garden City hold on , saving another powerful strike by Connolly five minutes later to help the Trojans extend their record to 9-1-1.
“[Winning close games] helps keep the momentum high, we’re all doing really well this year,” Ciccone said. “We’re really playing as a team.”
