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Wildcats knock off Warriors
GIRLS SOCCER
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Shannon McDonnell's goal (with an assist by Meghan Seabrook) past Comsewogue keeper Kim Comstock in first overtime gave No. 9 seed Shoreham-Wading River a 2-1 victory over host and No. 8 seed Comsewogue in the opening round of the Suffolk County Class A girls' soccer playoffs.
The loss was a bitter defeat for the resurgent Warriors who turned their fortunes around this year after posting 2-12-1 overall record in 2008 (0-11-1 in league play) by finishing with a 5-4-3 League V record and 6-5-3 overall.
The Warriors took a 1-0 lead just 19 seconds into the contest on a strike from Sam Clancy that beat Shoreham keeper Trista Rivera (12 saves). Comsewogue held on to their lead until Seabrook knotted the game at 1-1 at 19:01 with a shot past Comstock (11 saves).
The score remained deadlocked through the second half although both teams had opportunities to score. Rivera came up with a tremendous save on a free kick by Michelle Rubino that deflected off a Shoreham player only to be caught by the senior keeper. Wildcats forward Kari Quinn nearly put Shoreham up at 9:55 when after weaving though the Comsewogue defense delivered a strike that went just wide of the net. Then at 7:50 Erica Genece hit the crossbar and the ball bound away.
As regulation time neared an end the Warriors continued to attack the Wildcats zone, keeping the Wildcats on their heels. Still they couldn't finish and the game headed into overtime.
Playing the first of two 10-minute overtimes, the Wildcats needed just over four minutes to break the standoff. Following Seabrook's pass to McDonnell, Comsewogue keeper Comstock rushed out to meet McDonnell only to have her cleat snag in the artificial turf and she fell leaving McDonnell with an unobstructed opportunity at the net. She didn't fail on her chance to be the playoff hero, striking the ball past Comstock and into the right side of the net. "I was thinking, 'Don't miss,'" she said.
"It was very exciting that we hung in there after that opening debacle," said Shoreham-Wading River head coach Bob Vlahakis. "We weren't expecting it. I think we panicked and the next thing we knew the ball was in the back of the net. I wasn't sure how bad our playoff nerves were going to be and I thought we might be in big trouble. This was a real test for a young team."
"I'm proud of what our girls accomplished this year," said Comsewogue head coach James Bentley. "It's a step in the right direction. We played our style of soccer while they looked to get the break and not dominate."
The Wildcats advanced to take on Islip, but lost a close game 1-0 on Tuesday.
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