East Hampton boys soccer wrapped up the regular season with back-to-back double-overtime games, playing to scoreless ties against Islip on Oct. 14 and Rocky Point on Friday. While Don McGovern, East Hampton’s head coach, would have preferred two wins, his players held their own against two opponents hungry to make the playoffs.
“Both Islip and Rocky Point came into each game fighting to keep their seasons alive,” he said. “Islip needed a win against us, so they worked extremely hard in our match with them. I thought we had the better of the play and created more threatening opportunities, but we failed to put the ball in the back of the net.”
The Rocky Point match was more of the same. While Bonac maintained control of the ball for much of the game and had more dangerous scoring opportunities, the team couldn’t capitalize on any of them.
“Rocky Point needed at least a tie in our match with them to stay alive in the hunt for a playoff spot,” McGovern said. “They defended well with good numbers behind the ball and that made it difficult for us inside the attacking third until we started to open them up a bit. Then we created more quality chances. In both matches we defended well as a unit and limited our opponents’ chances, but struggled in the final third to score.”
East Hampton, with a record of 12-1-2 over all and 9-1-2 in league play, qualified for the playoffs weeks ago. As the team enters the postseason, its preparation will change slightly.
“We change how we prepare mentally for situations within the game,” McGovern said. “We will continue to focus and work on the things that have allowed us to be successful, but we will also work on our weaknesses and be prepared for the situations that could hurt us.”
The Section XI seeding committee meets today to determine the brackets for the playoffs. McGovern says his team will be ready, whoever they face.
“We have matched up against anyone we could be facing so we have awareness of how they do things and how we can play against them. We just need to be focused on defending well as a unit and attacking quickly and efficiently to create chances that lead to goals and be prepared to handle the mental and physical pressure the playoffs bring.”
