Runner-up finishes for South Side

It was déjà vu for South Side, and not in a good way.

For the second time in four years, Garden City’s Kelly George converted the final penalty kick to give the Lady Trojans the Nassau Class A girls’ soccer championship over the Lady Cyclones on Nov. 1 at Cold Spring Harbor.

The two longtime rivals, meeting in the county final for a fifth consecutive season, battled through 110 minutes of scoreless regulation and overtime periods before both coaches scribbled their five penalty kick shooters on paper for officials. No. 2 Garden City (9-4-3) went 4-for-5, and top-seeded South Side (11-2-4) went 3-for-5.

“We had high hopes to go further than we did and penalty kicks is a difficult way to lose,” South Side coach Shannon McEntee said. “We shut them out a third time. We just couldn’t break through with a goal.”

George also scored the winning PK goal in the 2013 championship game. It’s the third Nassau crown in four years for Garden City. South Side won it all in 2014.

Airtight defense at both ends of the field kept scoring chances to a minimum. Garden City’s back row was led by Kate Farrell, Jackie Morris, Megan Seel and Gabriella Rodgers, while South Side’s unit thrived behind Katherine Parker, Annie Ford, Allison Mahoney and Gabrielle Lucas.

Morris shadowed South Side’s leading scorer, Alex McNicholas (21 goals) for all 110 minutes. McNicholas, one of the team’s 12 seniors, nearly won it in overtime when her left-footed blast from about 15 yards out was deflected by Garden City keeper Kaitlyn Larsson’s fingertips. Both Larsson and Lady Cyclones’ keeper Kayla Klarides made five saves, plus one apiece in PKs.

“Kayla had a tremendous save in the first 10 minutes,” McEntee said.

Unlike Garden City, which squeaked by Wantagh on penalty kicks in the semifinals, South Side advanced to the finals with relative ease. The Lady Cyclones outscored their first three playoff opponents — Friends Academy, MacArthur and Manhasset — by a 14-2 margin. McNicholas had seven postseason goals, and Jolie Creo notched four including a hat trick in the semifinals.

Unbeaten Glen Cove tops South Side in title game
South Side’s impressive playoff run as the No. 10 seed in the Nassau Class A boys’ soccer tournament came to an end in the championship game at Hofstra on Nov. 2 with a 1-0 loss to undefeated No. 1 seed Glen Cove.

The lone goal of the night came at the 18:28 mark off the foot of sophomore defender Luis Guillen, whose direct free kick deflected off a leg on the way into the cage. It held up as the winner for the Big Red, which captured its first county title since 1967 while denying the Cyclones a fourth since 2008.

Though South Side’s scoring chances were limited, it was twice denied from inside of 10 yards by Glen Cove keeper Cris Hernandez. He made a diving stop off sophomore Joe Buglione with 9:30 to go, and then with just three minutes remaining in regulation robbed senior Ryan Prendergast on the doorstep.

“Our guys battled till the end,” Cyclones coach Fred Paul said. “We lost to a team that has excellent soccer players. They play well together and achieved an amazing accomplishment thus far.

“After a few adjustments I thought we settled in and played well,” he added. “For us to get this far is all about the kids’ hard work and determination.”