Oceanside nipped in county finals

Oceanside came awfully close to capturing its first-ever Nassau County girls’ lacrosse championship, but ran out of time against top-seeded Massapequa in the Class A final at Bethpage High School on June 1.

The No. 2 Lady Sailors didn’t allow a goal over the final 11:58 and made a valiant push down the stretch but were unable to get the equalizer in a 10-9 defeat. They had two possessions in the final minute; one ended with a save by Massapequa eighth-grade goalie Sophia Cardello; the last with a turnover.

“We were incredibly resilient, but we didn’t play our ‘A’ game,” Oceanside coach Ken Dwyer said. “We could’ve done a little bit better in every area. Massapequa did a good job closing off our passing lanes and was more physical.

“In perspective, our girls are going to look back and realize what a special season it was,” he added. “They had a bond deeper than any team I’ve ever coached. Three years ago I started ‘The Ring,’ where the girls form a circle during the national anthem to show unity. They really bought into it and put the team before anything else.”

Playing in its first-ever county final, Oceanside never led but stayed within striking distance all afternoon. Junior Christina McCabe had five goals, senior Cassie Cesario had a hat trick, and junior Kaitlyn Rapp scored once for the Lady Sailors, who defeated Farmingdale in the semifinals.

“We tried to play our same team game and do what got us here,” Dwyer said. “We won the turnover battle and the draws were even, but give Massapequa credit for taking us out of our flow at times.”

The Lady Sailors allowed two quick goals to start each half. Jaclyn Gatti scored 50 seconds into the second half, and Sophie Macchia about two-and-a-half minutes later as Massapequa extended its two-goal halftime advantage to 9-5. McCabe made it 9-6, but eighth-grader Alexa Gentile scored her fifth goal of the game to provide a 10-6 margin with 11:58 remaining.

“Every time we seemed to make a push, they pushed right back with a goal,” Dwyer said.

But it was all Oceanside over the final 10 minutes. Cesario scored with 9:12 remaining, and tallied again 19 seconds later to cut the deficit to 10-8. McCabe made it 10-9 with 2:54 to go.

Cesario hit the post with just over a minute left and was stopped by Cardello with about 50 seconds left. “The goalie made a nice save, it was probably a 50-50 shot,” Dwyer said. “To our credit, we forced a turnover and made one final charge but we couldn’t get another shot away.”

Cesario (39 goals, 28 assists), McCabe (38, 31) and senior goaltender Taylor Passuello 116 saves) earned All-County honors. Junior Alison Schwasnick (26 goals, 20 assists) was Honorable Mention All-County, while senior Jenna Doherty (17 goals), junior Kelsey Williams (15), senior Courtney Capobianco and senior Kerry Flavin were selected All-Conference. Rapp received the Unsung Hero award.