By Matthew Kipnis
The Great Neck Rebels varsity soccer team made the playoffs on Tuesday with a win over Bellmore JFK 3-0. With this win, the team finished the regular season with 4 wins, 6 losses and 2 ties. The twelfth seeded Rebels will take on the fifth seeded Syosset Braves on Friday, Oct. 26, at 2:30 at Syosset High School; the Braves finished their regular season with 11 wins, 3 loses and 1 tie. This will be a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals in which the No. 10 seeded Rebels pulled an upset over the No. 2 seeded Braves 3-0.
The Rebels have been on a hot streak as they advanced to the playoffs, winning three of their last four games. The Rebels have not lost a game since Friday, Oct. 12, when they lost 3-2 to Great Neck North. According to senior co-captain Brett Kleinberg, that game was a real turning point for the team. “Things didn’t go our way, but I think we learned how to play tough during that game. We started to play for each other rather than ourselves, and I believe that game definitely helped us throughout the season.”
The Rebels enter Friday’s game with one of the best players in the conference: senior Ben T. is the second highest goal-scorer in conference 3AA with 12 goals. The Rebels hope that their playoff magic will continue this year, as they have made it to the conference finals the past two years in a row.