Blue Devil Girls’ Soccer Presses On
The Huntington High School girls’ soccer team was forced to settle for a scoreless tie in a Thursday night game played under the lights in Hauppauge. The Blue Devils were never able to execute the pass they needed to put the ball in the net. The stymied offense required sophomore Taylor Moreno to be perfect in goal – and she was, notching her sixth shutout of the season.
Huntington (4-1-2 in league play) nipped the Eagles, 1-0 on Sept. 12. This time around the Blue Devils never seemed to find any rhythm in the hotly contested game. Both teams had opportunities to score, but neither did. Huntington’s defense was outstanding with players hustling all over the field to stop Hauppauge from mounting an attack.
Huntington head coach John Walsh and his squad will now regroup and prepare to face first place East Islip on Monday at Breezy Park at 4 p.m.
Earlier in the week Huntington took a long bus ride to Bellport High School where the Blue Devils scored two second half goals to top the Clippers, 2-0. Neither team could score in the first half, although Huntington did have plenty of chances. The Blue Devils had 14 shots on goal in the game.
Senior Megan Healy scored for the first time this fall when she blasted a free-kick that cleared the goalie and landed in the back of the net. The goal gave Huntington a 1-0 lead, which was all it needed.
With about 10 minutes remaining in the game, senior Summer Rudish scored her first goal of the season on breakaway after a leading pass from sophomore Katie Reilly. Rudish put the ball in the lower left side of the net before her teammates mobbed the popular forward.
Moreno continued her string of brilliant performances with her fifth shutout of the season. The teenager made six saves in the game. “We have had a really good beginning half of the season,” Reilly said. “We are playing so well together!”
Huntington’s victory followed a hard-fought 1-1 deadlock with visiting Kings Park. Both teams scored first half goals and then neither could get another goal through the second half and two overtime periods.
Junior Katie Nugent scored off an assist by Reilly for the Blue Devils. Huntington had 13 shots in the game. Junior Kaitlin Wascher, who filled in superbly for Moreno, recorded 10 saves for the Blue Devils. Unbeaten Kings Park had 11 shots in the game.
Huntington’s outstanding defensive corps is giving opponents fits. The Blue Devils are aggressive at midfield and are generally suffocating in their approach to any offensive assault by opponents.
“We have all been working hard and improving each and every day,” said Sabrina Palacios, a sophomore midfielder. “The team has become more of a family than anything else and that’s what’s really great, because it allows us to have a strong dynamic on and off the field. The fact that we have such great leadership in our seniors adds to our overall success.”