Going in net is no stretch for Sophie Marino.<\/p>\n
The star of Long Beach\u2019s gymnastics squad is doing a spectacular split this winter \u2014 simultaneously playing goalie for the 12-win Marines boys varsity hockey team that\u2019s on fire in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cGymnastics taught me strength, endurance, and being fearless,\u201d Marino told The Post.<\/p>\n
Goalie Sophie Marino makes a save during Long Beach High School boys varsity team practice in Long Beach, N.Y. on Jan. 12, 2026. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get up on the beam and have to do a backflip, you can\u2019t be scared \u2026 that translates here. When someone shoots a puck, I don\u2019t get scared. I\u2019m like, \u2018You know what? This will be fun, I\u2019ll make a save.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
The dual-sport senior, whose brother, Matt, protected the pipes at Long Beach in 2023 before graduating, noticed the Marines had no backup on the roster during a December 2024 game.<\/p>\n
\u201cJokingly, he was like, \u2018Why don\u2019t you try?\u2019 I was like, \u2018Haha, very funny.\u2019 Then I thought about it, and I was like, \u2018You know what? It looks like a lot of fun,\u2019 \u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got my brother\u2019s old gear, and I just tried to get on the ice as much as possible,\u201d added the 17-year-old goaltender.<\/p>\n
Ice in her veins\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could only \u201cget from point A to point B\u201d on skates at first, but took a crash course in early 2025 to be ready for her one-time chance to play before graduating.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t believe where she\u2019s at now,\u201d head coach Rob Carson said.<\/p>\n
Matt also put his little sis through goalie boot camp so she would be battle-tested when it came time to take the crease as a varsity player \u2014 the team\u2019s only female member.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was nonstop messaging me, \u2018Sophie\u2019s playing. Sophie\u2019s ready. I\u2019ve been shooting on her. She\u2019s ready. She\u2019s getting good,\u2019 \u201d Carson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s the hardest worker during practice \u2014 and the kids feed off that. They see that she didn\u2019t have that upbringing like most of them did, where they were skating when they\u2019re 5 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marino, a diehard Islanders fan who now studies goalie Ilya Sorokin (when not focused on her heartthrob, Matthew Schaefer), brings more than just a fierce gymnast mentality to the hockey team.<\/p>\n
Sophie Marino, goalie for the Long Beach High School boys varsity hockey team, poses for a portrait during a team practice. Heather Khalifa for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThe flexibility and the endurance came easily to me,\u201d said Marino, who added that Matt helped with reflex and hand-eye skills.<\/p>\n
She took his old No. 32 out of love and saw action early in the team\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n
A blossoming butterfly\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carson first called Marino in to play \u2014 with a comfortable lead \u2014 in the third period against Bethpage for trial by fire on the ice.<\/p>\n
Although slapshots don\u2019t make her flinch, the pressure certainly did at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was terrified,\u201d said Marino, who was sweating with nerves on the frozen surface.<\/p>\n
Starting goaltender Justin Mele could tell the tense moment could be cut with a skate blade, so he made a kind gesture to help Marino warm up to take her mind off the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI calmed down, and I went out there, and I just played. One kid had a really good shot, and I saved it. So it was really cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sophie Marino, the goalie for the boys hockey team at Long Beach High School, is also competing in gymnastics. Long Beach Athletics<\/p>\n
Her next call to the net wasn\u2019t like the 13-0 blowout win for the Marines, though.<\/p>\n
Marino needed to start against Half Hollow Hills when Mele was injured.<\/p>\n
She was once again \u201cterrified,\u201d but the entire Marines squad stepped up again to boost the new player\u2019s confidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we first got on the ice, they usually don\u2019t come over, but all the guys did, and they huddled up with me, which is really awesome,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the first shot, I was just like, \u2018You know what? It\u2019s OK, it\u2019ll be fine.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
Marino stood the test \u2014 and stopped an \u201cawesome\u201d breakaway in the third while tied \u2014 as Long Beach brought home a thrilling, last-minute 6-5 victory, which Mele said \u201cshe really did her best\u201d in.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was actually very proud of her,\u201d added the starter.<\/p>\n
The 12-2-1 bunch clinched a top playoff spot with one regular-season game remaining, while Marino, who does vault, bars, beam, and floor events, earned a spot in February\u2019s gymnastics state qualifiers as well.<\/p>\n
Balance might as well be her middle name.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was one time when I had a gymnastics meet, and then I left right away and went straight to the hockey game \u2014 and we won both, which is really cool,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you told me I was going to be on the boys hockey team \u2026 started, and we would have won \u2014 while doing varsity gymnastics at the same time, I\u2019d say \u2018No way, you\u2019re lying.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Going in net is no stretch for Sophie Marino. The star of Long Beach\u2019s gymnastics squad is doing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":135490,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2044,131,133,132,2890,127],"class_list":["post-135489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-high-school-sports","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-long-island","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}