SOCCER PREVIEW: The Guardian Tullis-Joyce was born to be a leader, and nothing gets by her on the soccer field
Gavin, Mike. Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 08 Sep 2013
The bigger Phallon Tullis-Joyce gets, the smaller the goal becomes.
“I grew about three inches since the end of last season,” she said.
The last thing strikers wanted to hear is that Tullis-Joyce, the goalkeeper on Longwood who is bound for the University of Miami, had a growth spurt in the offseason. Reason being, she was already making the 8-foot high and 24-foot wide goal seem small last season. Now that she has reached the 6-foot mark, her range has expanded and space has become even more limited.
It’s difficult to chip over her, she reaches upper corners quickly, and she sees over crowds on corner kicks. Factor in her expansive 74-inch wingspan and impressive vertical jump and the goal starts to look more and more like a closing window.
“You could coach 1,000 years and not have a kid like this,” Longwood coach Austin Manghan said. “She has the mind-set of ‘I’m not going to give up any goals today.’ And she usually doesn’t.”
The better Tullis-Joyce gets, the smaller the goal becomes.
“I’ve improved my technique incredibly this past year,” she said.
She has enhanced her set position and quickened her reload time following shot attempts.
Judge her on statistics alone and you’ll rush to an inaccurate judgment. Longwood won only four games last season and Tullis-Joyce allowed a dozen goals and recorded only three shutouts. Sure, you’ll find goalkeepers with better numbers. But it will be hard to find ones with better skill.
Not seen in those statistics are her acrobatics that keep the Lions in games. There are the diving stops where she seemingly floats parallel to the ground. Or her patented extension dives where she punches the ball over the crossbar.
On one save last season, she pinned the ball up against the crossbar with her right hand and, while still in the air, retrieved it with her left hand and carried it to safety.
“Teams will be ripping shots off and she’ll be flying through the air,” Manghan said. “Other coaches hate seeing her get off the bus.”
The smarter Tullis-Joyce gets, the smaller the goal becomes.
“I’m always watching others and studying them, trying to see what I can learn,” she said.
As the top student in her class, according to Manghan, her ability to absorb information comes as naturally as her ability to keep a soccer ball in front of her.
Manghan says that Tullis-Joyce has such a thorough understanding of every aspect of the game that it’s like having a coach in the box. She’s constantly directing traffic, ordering her defenders to their marks.
“She helps us all over the field,” said senior defender Natalie Ballato, who along with Stephanie Surrusco will anchor Longwood’s defense. “She yells at us in a good way. I feel so comfortable playing in front of her.”
The Lions can certainly take comfort in the fact that their last line of defense is a goalkeeper with the perfect blend of size, skill and smarts.
“If the keeper has confidence then the whole team prospers from that,” Tullis-Joyce said. “And right now, I feel more confident than ever.”
The goal just became a little smaller.
Preview: The Patriots staff is outstanding but so is the one at Longwood. Three hard-throwing righthanded juniors, Andruw Gazzola, Chris Weiss and Aaron Floyd make the Lions a threat to win the county crown. Floyd and Gazzola have committed to Stony Brook. March 13
St. Anthony’s 4, Longwood 1: Mackenzie Kober scored two goals and Emma Kechejian had two assists to lead St. Anthony’s. Phallon Tullis-Joyce made 14 saves for Longwood. Goals – SA: Kober 2, Hughes, Santangelo; LW: Adams; Saves – SA: Kramer 3; LW: Tullis-Joyce 14; Assist – SA: Schneider, Kechejian 2. Sept. 10
Sachem North 0 1 0 0- 1
Longwood 1 0 0 0- 1
Goals – SN: Humann; LW: Castoro; Saves – SN: Manger 13; LW: Tullis-Joyce 12. Sept. 13
Longwood 0 0 0 1- 1
Ward Melville 0 0 0 1- 1
Stephanie Brunner tied the score with 22 seconds left in the second overtime for Longwood in League I. Ashley Byrne scored off a free kick from Amanda Milazzo with 45 seconds left in regulation to give Ward Melville a 1-0 lead. Goals – LW: Brunner; WM: Byrne; Saves – LW: Tullis-Joyce 7; WM: Frantellizzi; Assist ; WM: Milazzo. Sept. 18
Patchogue-Medford 2 1- 3
Longwood 0 0- 0
Goals-PM: Rodriguez, Carroll, LaVelle; Saves-PM: Brown 10; LW: Tullis-Joyce 10; Assist-PM: Harmon. Sept. 20
Longwood 1, Brentwood 0: Deanna Hagen beat the goalkeeper to a loose ball and scored with 28:56 left for Longwood (1-1-2) in League I. Phallon Tullis-Joyce had nine saves, including a number of pivotal stops to preserve the shutout. Goals – LW: Hagen; Saves – LW: Tullis-Joyce 9; BRN: Ruiz 14. Sept. 24
Sachem East 2, Longwood 0: Gabrielle Mudaro and Brittany DeBole each scored in the first half and Amanda Fitzgerald made 10 saves – including a stop on a penalty kick in the first half – to lead Sachem East (2-1-1) in League I. Goals – SAE: Mudaro, DeBole; Saves – SAE: Fitzgerald 10; LW: Tullis-Joyce 7; Assist – SAE: Turnbull, Lurie. Sept. 26
Commack 2 0- 2
Longwood 0 0- 0
Goals – COM: Montella, O’Callaghan; Saves – COM: Miller 2, Birnbaum; LW: Tullis-Joyce 16; Assist – COM: Montella, Neville. Sept. 28
Ward Melville 1 3- 4
Longwood 0 0- 0
Goals – WM: O’Hern 2, Reyes, Joseph; Saves – WM: Frantellizzi 10; LW: Tullis-Joyce 9; Assist – WM: O’Connor, Byrne, Sicari. Kristen Moore had 16 assists and Tiffany Verni had 10 kills to lead Patchogue-Medford (5-2) to a 25-18, 16-25, 25-18, 25-11 win in League I. Oct. 8
Patchogue-Medford 1, Longwood 0: Jordan Brown scored the winning goal off a through ball from Samantha Reyes with 1:20 left in the first half to lead Patchogue-Medford (5-3-1) in League I. Madison Brown made nine saves in her fourth shutout. – Oct. 10
Brentwood 1 0 0 1- 2
Longwood 1 0 0 0- 1
Karen Rodriguez scored off a feed from Edasia Martinez with 37 seconds left in overtime as Brentwood edged Longwood, 2-1, in Suffolk League I girls soccer yesterday. Rodriguez fed Marylin Hernandez for a score 19 seconds into the game to give Brentwood (2-7) a 1-0 lead. Brentwood’s Kim Ruiz made two of her 12 saves from close range late in the second half. Rachel Grupp tied it midway through the first half for Longwood (1-7-2). – Newsday, Combined editions; Long Island, N.Y. [Long Island, N.Y]. 12 Oct 2013. Goals-B: Hernandez, Rodriguez; L: Grupp; Saves-B: Ruiz 12; L: Tullis-Joyce 12; Assist – B: Rodriguez, Martinez.
Longwood 0 0 0 1- 1
Sachem East 0 0 0 0- 0
Goals – LW: Adams; Saves – LW: Tullis-Joyce 21; SAE: Fitzgerald 13; Assist – LW: Ballato. Oct. 17
Commack 2 1- 3
Longwood 0 0- 0
Goals – COM: Galluzzo 2, Montella; Saves – COM: Miller 4, Birnbaum 2; LW: Tullis-Joyce 13, Ballato; Assist – COM: Carnesi, Fischer, Fleischhacker. Oct. 19