South Side's historic season ends

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The South Side girls’ lacrosse team made history just stepping onto the field against Garden City in the Class B finals June 18 at Bethpage High School.

The first county championship appearance since the founding of the South Side program in 1997 ended in defeat to a powerhouse, but fifth-year head coach Rob Devlin hopes the experience serves as a building block to consistently competing on the big stage.

“We had the best season we ever had,” said Devlin moments after the Cyclones’ 14-6 loss to Garden City, which went on to capture its 18th Long Island title last Saturday against West Babylon. “The girls now see where they can be and I have no doubt they are going to be right back there next year.”

After falling behind 5-0, South Side responded with back-to-back goals by Emily Iacobellis and EllaGrace Delmond to cut the lead to 5-2 with 6:29 left in the first half.  A Mia Delmond goal off a feed from Sydney Rathjen with 33 seconds left in the first half to cut the lead to 7-3 and gave South Side momentum heading into halftime.

South Side’s momentum heading into halftime took a blow just two minutes into the second half when EllaGrace Delmond was removed from the game following her second yellow card. It marked the final high school game for the senior midfielder, who will continue her lacrosse career at Quinnipiac next year.

After a Rathjen tally with 20:49 left cut the Garden City lead to 8-4, the Trojans scored six of the final eight goals to pull away. Junior goalie Makenzie Creagh helped keep the Cyclones competitive with a five-save performance that included a few close-range stops.  

“Makenzie is unbelievable,” said Devlin of Creagh, who recorded 11 saves in South Side’s 10-4 semifinal win against Long Beach. “She is awesome.” 

Devlin was proud of his team’s toughness throughout the game and entire season when facing adversity. This was evident in the county finals when senior defender Skylar DeLuca exited the field grimacing with pain after suffering an injury in the second half before returning minutes later with a large bandage over her right shoulder.  

“They don’t give up and they keep working,” Devlin said. “You can’t ask for anything more than that.” 

Second-seeded South Side punched its ticket to the Class B final with a 10-4 semifinal win against Long Beach on June 15 led by four goals from EllaGrace Delmond and three scores by Iacobellis. The Cyclones dominated MacArthur in the quarterfinal round, 16-3, with Rathjen and Katie Davis each registering three goals apiece. 

 The historic 2021 season that ended with a 12-4 record included wins against eventual Class D champion Cold Spring Harbor and Class C runner-up Wantagh. Devlin credits his four seniors of EllaGrace Delmond, Rathjen, Davis and DeLuca for their perseverance after their junior season was wiped out due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The seniors were afraid for awhile they weren’t going to get any junior or season and then they put this together,” he said. “It’s an impressive group.”