In a matchup between two heavyweight soccer teams, it’s not always the squad that is on the attack that ultimately has the upper hand.
Despite an impressive showing from Mamaroneck on Tuesday afternoon, White Plains built a two-goal lead and withstood a late push from their visitors, holding on for a 2-1 victory in an early-season showdown between the longtime rivals.
Isolde Valenton scored in the first half to put White Plains ahead, and Eva Robins added another goal after halftime as the Tigers controlled the scoreboard through the opening portions of the second half.
Mamaroneck—which controlled time of possession throughout—eventually answered when Greta Norman found the net, giving the Tigers life and setting up a frantic finish. Mamaroneck pressed for the equalizer in the closing minutes, but White Plains goalkeeper Pilar Abdel-Aziz finished with 16 saves to preserve the victory.
Charlotte Daur made four saves for Mamaroneck before Natalie Namizzi finished the game in goal and recorded three saves.
The result was an important early-season win for White Plains, which improved to 5-2-2. Mamaroneck dropped its first game of the year, bringing the record to 4-1-2.
“It’s a learning experience, especially early in the year. It’s the first real early test that we needed,” Mamaroneck coach Grant Edick said. “We fought all the way till the end, we almost equalized with time running out, so we can build on that and clean up some of the weak goals that we conceded and go from there.”
Edick credited White Plains’ organization while pointing to finishing as the difference.
“White Plains is so well coached, they’re so well organized, and they play a relatively unique system we don’t see much the rest of the year, and that gave us a little bit of trouble,” Edick said. “But we were all over them, we just need to finish; that’s what it comes down to.”
The Tigers’ ability to create pressure without consistently converting chances was a key takeaway. Edick said Mamaroneck must turn those stretches of momentum into goals while limiting opportunities for opponents to counter.2
“When we have those moments of momentum, we need to seize that opportunity so we don’t give them a chance to counterattack,” he said.
For both teams, Tuesday’s game offered an early indication of areas to build on as the Section 1 season moves toward its more consequential stretch.
