Jack Steinberg makes most of second chance in Friends Academy's semifinal win over Locust Valley

Jack Steinberg had a great chance from the right side of the box to give Friends Academy the lead in a scoreless match. An unattended net stared back at him after goalkeeper Oliver Dostalek came out.

But Steinberg missed. The junior, so lethal in recent games, dropped to the Farmingdale State turf.

“I couldn’t even believe it,” Steinberg said of his wayward shot with a little less than 11 minutes left against top-seeded Locust Valley in the Nassau Class A boys soccer semifinals on Sunday. “I tried it with my left foot. I thought I had it. I saw some of the net, so I tried to go high and it went over. It was such a missed opportunity. I thought we’d been dominating all game.”

Back by the bench area, Edgar Posada had some reassuring words.

“Next play, Jack, next play. Don’t worry,” the Quakers’ coach told him.

Then the next play came, and Steinberg didn’t miss. He scored with 2:02 left off an assist from Jonathan Montes, and fourth-seeded Friends Academy defeated the previously unbeaten Falcons, 1-0.

The victory followed Thursday’s 2-1 comeback win over North Shore in overtime. “We really just have hope,” Steinberg said. “We never lose faith.”

Friends Academy, team of destiny?

The confident Quakers (11-4-1) will find out Saturday. There’s a high hurdle ahead. They will face the defending state Class A champion, No. 2 Floral Park, for the title on the same field. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m., but that’s tentative.

Friends fell to Floral Park, 5-0, on Oct. 4 but didn’t have its full complement of players.

“We knew from the beginning that we were going to be one of the best teams,” Montes said. “Maybe people didn’t see it at first, but we knew it.”

Montes sent a through ball toward Steinberg that was deflected and then collected. Steinberg shot from just inside the left side of the box and beat Dostalek for the right wing’s sixth goal in the last five games.

“He’s the man,” Posada said.

Ryder Marcus, who played the second half in goal after Jack Byrnes started, made a diving stop with about 12:30 left to keep it scoreless for Friends.

“The formula right now is Jack goes in first and then Marcus saves the game,” Posada said. “That’s the winning formula.”

So Locust Valley finished 12-1-2. “It’s heartbreaking,” coach Joe Lee said. “These kids have poured their hearts into this all season.”