Olivia Salazar, Addison Finn give East Meadow winning edge.
A month ago, the Friends Academy field hockey team shut out East Meadow. This time around it was a whole new game.
East Meadow beat Friends, 2-1, in a non-league matchup Tuesday night in Locust Valley. Olivia Salazar and Addison Finn each scored in the win.
Friends Academy struck first after dominating possession in the first quarter. On the Quakers’ fourth penalty corner, Emily Goldstein scored off Lilly Kenny’s assist to make the score 1-0 with 29.3 seconds remaining.
In the next quarter, East Meadow flipped the switch. Coach Courtney Castle said the Jets’ second-quarter push came from them simply remembering who they are.
“We came out flat to start,” Castle said. “We didn’t play our best in the first quarter but, in the first intermission, we told them to stay on their toes. We’ve seen this team before and we just had to spread out, play clean one-on-one and clean passes were really key.”
Angelina Gatto displayed what those clean passes can do when she sent a cross to Finn, who guided the ball in from the right post to tie the score with 1:13 left in the half.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, East Meadow built on the momentum. Salazar found herself with time and room on the right side of the circle to send the ball over the line and give the Jets the lead.
Salazar said the halftime speech gave her team the push it needed.
“After that first goal, we went into halftime and our coach said, ‘Do you really want this? Do you want to win?’ and everyone really brought up the energy,” Salazar said. “Everyone was passing to each other and communicating and it just all worked together.”
For the remainder of the game, both team defended well. Goalkeeper Ariana Rosa made 12 saves for East Meadow (6-3) and Skylar Greenspan made five for Friends Academy (6-4-1).
When the Quakers began to make a last minute push, Rosa said she knew it was her opportunity to control the game.
“I want to do as much as I can to help this team because I’m not the one running the ball up and down this field,” Rosa said. “When the ball gets to me, it’s my job to be that clutch person. They’ve been working their butts off all game, so if I can do my job in that one moment, I have to be there for my team.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
