It was something senior Noelle Batista had been practicing since was very little.
She stepped up to take a free-kick from 25 yards out for the Hicksville Comets against the rival Massapequa Chiefs. The practice certainly paid off as it was a fantastic curling effort into the top corner.
Not a bad effort for someone who usually doesn’t take them.
“Usually Kelly Carroll, our center back takes them but Noelle has been begging me to take them,” Comets head coach Rich Hinnerschietz said.
However, she just may get more opportunities in the future.
“No way,” Hinnerschietz joked before admitting he’s going to have to.
For the Comets, unfortunately the great goal came with the team down by three goals.
Chiefs senior forward Kristen Bischoff fired into the top corner in the game’s fifth minute to put Massapequa in front.
While the Comets came out moving the ball well, the early goal changed the game.
“If any team gets an early goal they have more momentum. They have possession more because they feel confident, Bischoff said.
Bischoff’s attacking play caused problems for the Comets backline and she eventually added a second goal from a penalty kick after a foul in the box that could have went either way.
The senior forward’s play earned plaudits from head coach Bruce Stegner.
“She’s a natural goalscorer. She’s got great speed, great strength and she terrorizes defenders,” he said. “I would hate to be defending, marking up against here because she terrorizes other goals.”
Despite giving up a third goal in the 43rd minute off a corner kick that was headed in by Skylar Vitiello, the Comets never quit, even with a shorthanded squad.
“Part of our problem was a lot of girls were hurt, one girl is off at Nationals so [we] tried to piece things together, [and] had people in all different spots. The first goal in the first couple minutes set us back, but we tried to hang in there,” Batista said.
While the Comets can take positives from creating their chances, they just couldn’t finish them against the Chiefs.
“We’re in Conference 1 now, you get 4-5 opportunities a game and you have to seize them,” Batista said.
It may have been an even tougher loss for Hicksville after losing to their rival earlier in the season as well as the playoffs a year ago.
For Bischoff and the Chiefs they were looking at it just like they take every other game, despite the rivalry between the schools.
“Every team that we play is a rivalry. We play like it’s a state championship every game so we come out to win,” she said.
While Hicksville drops another game, despite being in every one this season, Massapequa is looking to continue their momentum.
“Every game is important, we try to take it one game at a time, but it’s all about how we’re going to do in November. This all leads to November, it’s about peaking at the right time,” Hinnerschietz said.
