Somers soccer powers past Brewster

SOMERS, N.Y. - On Monday, Oct. 6, Somers welcomed Brewster to the high school and kept play in the visitors' end for most of the day. Still, it remained only a 2–1 game nearly halfway through the second half.

“We were having a hard time scoring,” said Lindsay Ulaj, and that included a couple of crossbars. So a game breaker was needed — and Ulaj delivered.

“Lily (Mazzella) played it to me and I just one-touch finished it,” she said. “I put it over the goalie’s head and that sparked us.”

The 5–1 victory started the way it ended: with Somers on the attack. Early on, Isabella Wissa got the ball to Ulaj in the middle of the field, and she connected with a streaking Mazzella.

A fairly easy save for the Brewster goalie at 38:55, the Bear was far from done. A minute later, Wissa’s pass from midfield threaded through the defense, forcing Brewster keeper Lara Schulze to race out to cut off the advance.

Only an offsides call on Mazzella spared the goalie moments later. But at 33:11, the timing and vision were perfect. “All my strikers, I’ve played with them for so long that I don’t have to look to see if they are there,” said Ulaj. Mazzella took her teammate’s little pooch pass into open space.

On the run, the senior had a step and gave Somers a 1–0 lead. Brewster answered when Daniella Apap got ahead of the field, but the Tusker defense was ready. Maeve Cleary tracked down the play and cleared the danger.

Somers then showed how it’s done. Angie Giron found Mazzella flying down the sideline, and with the defense chasing, the winger punched in a goal at 31:32.

Up 2–0, the Tuskers kept pressing. Alessia Matteo and Mazzella each had breakaways, and Mazzella showed she could set up her teammates too. Racing for a ball in the corner, she sent a pass through the crease, and Kate Hanford met it perfectly — just wide at 27:35.

After several missed chances, Brewster capitalized. Following a corner kick, Apap’s return shot curled off the inside of the far post to cut the deficit in half.

In at 13:55, Brewster rode the momentum for a minute. The Bears made three quick pushes, but Somers’ defense stood firm, and the Tuskers regained control. Aurora Riley took a pass ahead and fired from the left side — her shot glanced off Schulze’s outstretched hand and the crossbar.

Denied again, Somers entered halftime with only a one-goal lead. Mazzella hit the crossbar early in the second half, then fed Hanford for another dangerous chance.

A diving save from Schulze at 32:40 kept it close. Seconds later, Ulaj forced another diving stop, and Hanford’s one-on-one chance skirted wide after Schulze got a fingertip deflection with 29 minutes left.

Finally, enough was enough. Ulaj broke through at 21:59, and Somers put the finishing touches on the win as Mazzella completed her hat trick and Ashley Kuchinsky scored off a corner kick.