Seaford falls in semifinals

Seaford’s girls’ lacrosse team is still chasing that elusive finals trip.

The Lady Vikings (7-8-1) dropped a hard-fought 17-13 Nassau Class C semifinal game to second-seeded Oyster Bay on May 22 at Adelphi University’s Motamed Field, marking the fourth year in a row Seaford has fallen one win shy of reaching the championship stage. Seaford, which advanced to the semis with a 13-7 quarterfinal victory against Carle Place on May 14, has not made a finals appearance since the program was founded in 1999.

Oyster Bay advanced to he Class C title to face top-seeded Cold Spring Harbor on Wednesday back at Adelphi. The season-ending defeat put a close to the career of eight Seaford seniors, including five who were a part of all four semifinal runs.

“These seniors made it to the semis four years in a row and not many groups can say that,” Seaford head coach Kurt Dankenbrink said. “It’s all about the process and not the ending and they did a great job.”

Among the seniors who finished their careers was Emma Schait, who did her best to help Seaford try and rally from an early 7-1 deficit by scoring three early second half goals that cut the Oyster Bay lead to 12-9. The Albany-bound attacker finished with five goals and two assists on the evening.

“She is a huge void to fill,” Dankenbrink said of Schait. “You cannot replace a four-time all-county player easily…She has been our go-to player for a couple years now.”

Other Seaford seniors who began a four-year run of leading their team to the semis in 2011 were Michelle Savino, who had two goals in her final game, Renee Savino, Marrissa Scialpi and Abby Wolfin. The other seniors include goalie Desire Fowlkes Victoria, Prodan, and Jennifer Molnar,

“To graduate them is going to be hard to do,” Dankenbrink said. “It’s tough.”

A major reason why Seaford was unable to get over that semifinal hump was Oyster Bay dominating the draw controls, which severely lessened the Vikings’ offensive possessions. Seaford trailed 11-4 late in the first half but went on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to three before Oyster Bay put the game out of reach with five straight goals.

“The draw controls were the killer,” Dankenbrink said. “If you don’t have the ball you can’t win the game.”

Oyster Bay’s explosive offense featured four multi-goal scorers including Vanessa Yu (6), Michelle Yu (4), Hannah Kaiser (3) and Rebecca Layne (3).

“They are very fast and very good,” Dankenbrink said of Oyster Bay, which defeated Seaford in the regular season, 18-14, on May 2.

Seaford was also hurt by three yellow cards, which put them a player down at key parts of the game. Fowlkes made seven saves to keep Seaford within striking distance.

A bright spot for the Seaford’s future that shined in the semifinal setback was freshman Alison Palermo, who registered four goals and three assists. Sophomore Alyssa Mallery also contributed offensively with two goals. 

Palermo and Mallery are among nine Seaford underclassmen slated to return in 2015 with a goal of advancing at least one extra game.