South Side is state runner-up

South Side’s trip to Cortland for the New York State Class A girls’ soccer Final Four brought mixed results and no championship, but coach Shannon McEntee said she couldn’t be more proud of everything the Lady Cyclones accomplished.

“They were upset,” McEntee said after Somers took the title with a 3-1 victory over South Side in the Class A final last Sunday evening at SUNY-Cortland. “But it was easy to point out how much they accomplished and the memories they made,” she added. “A bunch of these girls have two state championships and one state finalist. It’s tremendous, and the ones coming back will work on getting back to this spot again.”  

The Lady Cyclones (15-4-1 overall) fell behind 4:33 into the game when Somers’ Hannon Eberts found the net after an uncharacteristic defensive breakdown, McEntee said. It stayed 1-0 at halftime, but Somers struck again early in the second half on a header by Melina Couzis.

“We know what it’s like to come from behind and win,” McEntee said. “We were having a hard time connecting. The middle of the field was congested, so we had to use the width as much as we could. The cold and wind didn’t help, but both teams had to deal.”

The Lady Cyclones got within 2-1 on a goal by sophomore Gabrielle Lucas with 13:56 remaining. It was her first at the varsity level. “She came off the bench and gave us a lift,” McEntee said. “She started off the year on defense, but lately we gave her some time at forward.”

South Side’s chances of winning a third state title in four years were doused when Somers got an insurance goal from Melissa Righetti with eight minutes to play.

“They’ve got a really good team,” McEntee said of Somers. “They bottled us up in the midfield and won more 50-50 balls than we did.

“It was still a really good weekend,” she added. “The girls worked really hard to get where they did. Losing 12 seniors from last year’s team, most people thought it would be a rebuilding year for us. I’m happy the girls got to experience the full weekend by winning the semifinal.”  

The weekend began on a high note when South Side defeated Mendon, 1-0, on senior Keri Cavallo’s goal a little more than midway through the first half of last Saturday’s semifinal. Sophomore Alex McNicholas got the assist.

For Cavallo, who scored in overtime to give the Lady Cyclones a 2-1 victory over Shoreham-Wading River for the Long Island Class A championship, it was her first game upstate after she was forced to miss the 2011 and ’12 tournaments because of outside obligations.

“It was really nice for Keri,” McEntee said.

South Side kept the pressure on throughout and forced Mendon goalkeeper Barbara Bruce to make 12 saves. The Vikings had their best chance with about 24 minutes left, McEntee said, but sophomore keeper Kayla Klarides (seven saves) got a little help from the post.