Perfect timing for Wantagh

The Wantagh girls’ soccer team has kicked it into high gear when it matters most.

The Lady Warriors (11-3-1) won their last three regular-season games to earn the No. 2 seed in the Nassau County Class A playoffs and advanced to the quarterfinals for the fourth straight year with a 2-0 first round home victory against Hewlett last Friday.

The victorious playoff opener came three days after Wantagh upset top-seeded and longtime power South Side, 4-3, in the regular-season finale. The Warriors were scheduled to play their quarterfinal game at home against seventh-seeded Manhasset after press time.

“The girls are jelling at the right time,” Wantagh head coach James Polo said. “They feel they can do something this year.”

Wantagh kept its championship hopes alive thanks to a goal from Vermont-bound senior forward Jordyn Klapper off a pass from Julianna Kissane in the 50th minute that broke a scoreless deadlock. The Lady Warriors dominated possession, but Hewlett stayed in the game thanks to its Northeastern-bound senior goalkeeper Nathalie Nidetch making eight saves.

“We dominated the game but their goalie was phenomenal,” Polo said. “We were in their end the entire game.”

Wantagh’s win against South Side was the first against the dominant power in program history, according to Polo. The Lady Warriors dropped a hard-fought 3-0 game to South Side in the teams’ first meeting on Oct. 2 but turned on the offense in the rematch led by two goals from Klapper and single tallies by Kissane and Ally Murphy to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Freshman goalkeeper Julianna King recorded six saves and helped thwart a late South Side rally with some key late stops off corner kicks.

“That was a game that put us on the map,” said Polo of the South Side win. “They played like a team on a mission and a team trying to make a name for themselves.”

A victory against Manhssett would send Wantagh to the county semifinals this Friday night at Adelphi University’s Motamed Field against the winner of the Garden City-Bellmore JFK quarterfinal matchup. Wantagh split its two regular-season meetings with Garden City, which is out to defend the Class A championship. The Lady Warriors beat Bellmore-JFK twice, by identical 3-2 scores. The county title game is scheduled for Nov. 4 at Hofstra University starting at 11 a.m.

Polo emphasized that no matter how long Wantagh’s playoff journey lasts, 2014 will go down as a historic year for the Lady Warrior girls’ soccer program and he credits the team’s core group of seniors for their determination to take their play to the next level. He says playing with a sharp mental focus will be a huge key in determining how far Wantagh can go.

“We have to play with a sense of urgency,” said Polo. “We want to earn that reputation as a team people respect.”