By Brian McLaughlin
A more appropriate tune may have been Taps, since the Wantagh team was just moments away from a crushing 10-6 loss to South Side.
With the victory, South Side earned its first trip to the Class B county championship game, on Wednesday.
Wantagh started off the game with a powerful defensive front, anchored by goalie Rich Polo, who had 12 saves on the day, but the Warriors- sloppy offensive plays failed to produce any goals, and eventually South Side began to break through and score.
One of the Cyclones- greatest strengths throughout the season has been the number of skilled shooters on the team, and the first quarter of the game was an apt illustration, as four different South Side shooters scored four unanswered goals: Senior Greg Rudolph (assisted by senior Kevin Riley), senior Kevin Hill (assisted by senior co-captain Kent Lucas), junior Ed Ege, and Riley.
Despite this dominating scoring streak, Wantagh wasn-t going down without a fight, and the game turned into a hard-fought contest. The combination of both teams- tenacious defensive play, multiple pushing penalties and hot-and-cold passing games resulted in innumerable turnovers.
The South Side offense gave an impressive performance in the second quarter, but was able to score only one goal. As the game neared halftime, Wantagh seemed to rediscover its own offensive game, and with 17 seconds left in the half, Warriors senior Bryan Golden gave his team its first goal of the game. Wantagh made the most of its momentum, with sophomore Scott Ghiraldi winning the faceoff that followed Golden-s score and passing to junior Brian Mangan, who added a second goal with one-tenth of a second left on the clock.
Encouraged by their last-minute rally, the Warriors returned in the second half with a high-intensity game. Their enthusiasm was somewhat deflated, though, when Riley scored again for the Cyclones, assisted by Hill.
Even though the Warriors kept their offensive heat turned up throughout the third quarter, they were able to get only one goal past sophomore goalie Danny Orlando, who was brought in at the beginning of the second half and had 10 saves on the day.
South Side closed out the quarter with Riley-s third goal, scored with just two seconds remaining on the clock.
Down 8-3 as they headed into the final quarter, Wantagh summoned all the offensive energy it could muster. Yet its aggressive play only resulted in the loss of junior Steve Nastro to a pushing penalty, and South Side-s Lucas scored on the power play with an assist from senior Chris White.
Wantagh-s Polo provided his team with enough defensive cover to allow junior Anthony Muscarella to score another Warriors goal, but by then the game was all but over. The Cyclones essentially clinched the win on Lucas-s second goal of the day, though they allowed two Wantagh goals in the final minutes of the game. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, South Side was headed to the county championship game at Hofstra, while the Warriors headed home.
Our team-s been playing well all year, said South Side head coach Joe Baccarella. We have a great group of seniors, and it-s a great reward to them and the rest of the team that we-re going to the finals for the first time.
Riley led South Side with three goals. Hill, Rudolph and Lucas had two apiece, and Ege scored one.
South Side faced the number one-rated Bethpage for the county title on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Hofstra Stadium, after the Herald went to press.
