Southampton Girls Soccer Comes Up Short In 1-0 Semifinal Loss To Center Moriches

Kendra Jimenez is accustomed to shutting out her opponents — coming away with seven clean sheets this season. But this time, it was the aggressive Southampton goalkeeper’s team that was shut down by Center Moriches in a 1-0 Class B semifinal playoff game Tuesday.

The lone goal was scored off a Red Devils (9-3) free kick by Silvana Scuria from 20 yards out after a penalty made just outside of the box. The split decision to choose not to have a wall of defenders in front of her, Jimenez said, was a tough call to make.

“I knew I needed to look at the ball,” the goalkeeper said. “Everything goes so quick, so I said no. I thought I’d be fine. At first, it was going out, but out of the corner of my left eye saw the ball was coming back in. I tried to dive up, but it went in.”

The ball ricocheted off the right post and into the right corner past the senior’s fingertips just over four minutes into the second half.

“That’s my home. No one enters my home until I say so,” Jimenez said. “I knew this was my moment. This was my year.”

The senior made nearly 100 stops this season, coming away with over 35 of them across her shutouts alone. She made five saves against Center Moriches on Tuesday.

“I’m always putting in the extra day,” said the Division II-bound goalkeeper, who has not yet committed. “I’ve analyzed every goalkeeper I’ve played with. I knew what to do. I transferred everything I’ve learned from them, my coaches, even online and watching the pros into this game. I was just a second late. It’s really heartbreaking.”

But her head coach, Sean Zay, was thrilled with his team’s effort despite not coming away with the desired outcome.

“They stepped up,” he said. “We’re knocking on the door. We just need to finish.”

Southampton (8-5) edged Center Moriches at home, 2-1, on March 11, but lost to the Red Devils, 2-1, on the road March 26. The Mariners also split games with top-seeded Babylon (9-2-2), coming up on the losing end of a 3-2 March 17 matchup before shutting out the Panthers 2-0 on April 3. Southampton has earned a playoff spot the last three seasons, going up against Babylon in 2019.

“I told them at the beginning of the week as we were getting ready for this game that there were fine margins. I knew it was going to be close,” Zay said. “We couldn’t make any mistakes. I knew we were going to have to play smart. We made one, and we got caught on it.”

Switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation was the team’s strategy, junior midfielder Carli Cameron said, to battle with Center Moriches’s four midfielders. This meant the team had three midfielders that could attack the ball, but come back when needed. This game plan worked well for Southampton, because most of the Red Devils shots were off target.

“We played with energy. We worked really hard. We played the whole game as if it was 0-0. There was just that one free kick,” the striker said. “But if there’s one thing we’ve learned this season, it’s that we can’t put our heads down when they score — we have to keep moving, keep trying to win, keep moving up the field to score.”

Sophomore forward Emily Zukosky also praised her team’s efforts, saying although the Mariners thought they were the underdogs, they did exactly what they set out to do.

“We possessed really well. We kept running to the ball. We were pressuring the goalie,” Zukosky said. “I think if we keep doing this, play the way we’re playing now, we will win counties next year.”

Graduating just two seniors should set up Southampton for success next season. Zay added it doesn’t hurt that Center Moriches is going to lose some of its better players. Cameron said her team will be quick to get back to work, because the Mariners’ eyes are set on one prize and one prize only.

“This definitely stings, but we’ve got one more season,” Cameron said. “It’s half our senior years, and I want a county championship win. I want a plaque on our wall. I want a banner in our gym. And I’m not leaving Southampton without getting one.”