South Side secures top seed

South Side girls’ soccer downed Garden City, 1-0, on the road last Friday, sweeping the dual regular-season meetings between the rivals and securing the one seed for the Nassau Class A playoffs, which begin this Saturday. 

Forward Alex McNicholas headed and netted a corner kick from fellow senior Alley Diez for the game’s lone goal late in the second half. Before the big game their coach, Shannon McEntee, cited the offensive duo as the team’s standouts.  

“We expected a lot and needed a lot from them this season, and they are definitely raising our expectations by going above and beyond,” McEntee said of her star seniors. “Alex, with her dozen goals, and Ally, with about nine assists on the season, are creating opportunities for other girls.”

Senior goalkeeper Kayla Klarides had five saves in the game after she had racked up nine saves to shutout Garden City 3-0 last month, when McNicholas had two goals. A third-year starter, Klarides has kept opponents scoreless in four games and has relinquished just one goal in five other matches this year. 

“Kayla has made great saves for us,” McEntee said. “She’s a senior now and really kind of taking ownership and has been much more vocal than in the past. She’s giving the defense a lot of directions. Most teams consider they have four players on defense, but we consider that we have five because Kayla is so active.”

Conference IA has revolved around the South Side-Garden City rivalry for several years now. The teams have met in the county finals each of the past six seasons. Last year, Garden City won the title 1-0, after South Side scored first but had the goal reversed on an offsides penalty. 

As a sixth-year coach, McEntee has led South Side to three county and Long Island championships and two state titles. She’s poised for another potential postseason showdown with the Lady Trojans.

After a 2-2-1 start overall, the Lady Cyclones have gone 6-0-2 in conference play, leaving Wantagh, Island Trees and Lynbrook in their wake. Their mid-season shutdown of Garden City was their best game, according to McEntee.  

“Our passing was very, very sharp, the girls were working really well off the ball with each other, finding openings and really able to break down GC’s defense,” she said. “We were just on our game that day.”

Meanwhile, South Side’s defense, seniors Katherine Parker, Gabrielle Lucas, Allison Mahoney and Annie Ford, have played consistently as a virtual impenetrable wall for their goalie.

“They’re really doing a good job of shutting down offensive chances,” McEntee said. 

South Side traveled to Lynbrook to wrap up the regular season. Then it is on to the postseason as the conference top seed, where Garden City will probably be lying in wait barring any upsets. The county title will be decided on Nov. 1.

“Looking forward, we told the girls we will most likely see them again and it’s hardest to beat a team for the third time,” McEntee said. “We will have to prepare all playoffs to see them again.”