Ashley Castanio-Gervasi got a real kick out of this.
The Long Beach girls head soccer coach, who made international headlines at Christmas over her on-and-off-and-on-again attempt at a $100K field goal at a Jets game, is returning to MetLife Stadium — this time for all the right reasons.
The former Stony Brook goalkeeper received the surprise of a lifetime while at her alma mater, watching the USA put the hurt on Paraguay 4-1, when she was surprised with World Cup tickets for the round of 16 from New York State.
“It’s all funny that it came full circle there,” she told The Post with a laugh.
Castanio-Gervasi joined a few other youth soccer coaches on a stage at her old field during a massive watch party, under the impression that she was getting a shoutout for her local contribution to the game.
Despite the shock, her moment of Gang Green infamy still stole the show when the handful got the news courtesy of the YMCA.
“It was funny because when I was on the stage, one of the other coaches was like, ‘You look really familiar,’ ” she recalled. “Then he put two and two together.”
Although being a coach was the insurance technicality that initially barred her from taking the kick that fell short last December, this time it was the reason she was selected after her mom sent in a video.
“Isn’t that ironic?” said the mom-to-be, who once traveled to Canada to see the U.S. women’s team play. “Now soccer got me probably one of the most memorable experiences I’ll have in my life with my mom at MetLife.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
