Deer Park girls soccer's Malak Oztimurlenk shuts out Hauppauge
Deer Park goalie Malak Oztimurlenk makes the save on the point blank shot by forward Charlotte Derby of visiting Hauppauge in a Suffolk girls soccer game on Tuesday. Credit: George A. Faella
The Deer Park girls’ soccer team is taking risks. After some rough bouts, they’re starting to see the rewards.
The Falcons (2-3) topped Hauppauge, 1-0, in a Suffolk II matchup in Deer Park on Tuesday.
Both entering the game 1-3, the evenly-matched teams split possession time in the first half, taking turns occupying each other's territory. Although it was Hauppauge who found more scoring opportunities, Deer Park’s Malak Oztimurlenk stole the show.
The junior is a talented forward, but when the Falcons’ usual goalkeeper got hurt earlier in the season, Oztimurlenk volunteered to step up. She kept Hauppauge off the board with six saves in the first half during only her second game in the cage.
“I just feel great,” Oztimurlenk said. “We’re coming off of a tough loss so this is amazing. It really helps hearing my teammates cheer me on, the support is really nice.”
It was Taylor Gabel who was first to test Hauppauge goalkeeper, two-time Newsday Top 100 selection Taylor Mileti, but Mileti kept the scoreboard at nil heading into halftime.
Following the intermission, Deer Park turned the tide. In the 50th minute, Gabel dashed down the right side and sent a cross-field pass to her sister, eighth-grader Camryn Gabel, who slipped the ball past Mileti to give the Falcons the lead. The goal marked the first of her varsity career.
“That was one of the best moments of my life,” Camryn said.
“It’s so special to play with her,” Taylor added. “She was open, I trusted her to finish and it worked for us.”
Following the Gabel connection, the Falcons began to gain some momentum. Deer Park’s offense controlled the majority of the second half, occupying Hauppauge territory, but could not manage to register another shot on goal.
In a crunch for time, Hauppauge turned up the heat in the final 10 minutes. Crisalyn Abruscato found herself unmarked in front of the cage in the 77th minute, but Oztimurlenk came up with a big stop to maintain Deer Park’s lead.
Oztimurlenk finished the match with a season-high 14 saves.
“She played one game, talked through it, made a boatload of saves and then had the confidence to do what she did today,” coach Ian Kyranakis said. “For a field player to step in the net and do that, it was incredible.”
A senior captain, Taylor Gabel said a gritty win like this can be a sign of what the Falcons are capable of.
“We started 0-3 which, of course, isn’t fun,” Taylor said. “Hopefully an exciting win like this can get the ball rolling for more wins to come.”
