By TONY BELLISSIMO
After 80 minutes of regulation and four 10-minute overtime periods of scoreless play, last Saturday's Nassau Class B girls soccer semifinal between Valley Stream South and New Hyde Park at Mitchel Field went into the dreaded penalty-kick shoot-out.
That's where the Lady Falcons managed to knock out the top-seed and defending champion Lady Gladiators to advance to the county title game for a second straight year. South junior Eileen Flood scored the decisive goal that sent her team into the final against Garden City.
"It's not the way you want to win or lose, but I'll take it," South coach Stephanie Fries said. "It's a great feeling to be in the final again. We had a lot of obstacles to clear. We endured a tough regular season and we had numerous injuries to overcome."
Flood was one player on South's lengthy injury report. A knee injury sidelined her for both of the team's previous playoff victories, which came against Seaford and Valley Stream North. Flood was cleared to play a day before the semifinal, and Coach Fries knew she could handle the pressure of being the anchor person in the shoot-out.
"She's very composed," Fries said of Flood. "I knew it would be a nerve-racking situation for her if it came down to the last shot, but I also felt she could handle it."
New Hyde Park's Lauren Spota and South's Deirdre Canle scored on their team's first penalty kicks. The next round of shots were stopped by NHP keeper Laurie Oates and the Lady Falcons' Adrianna Crescenzi. Trailing 2-1, South dodged a bullet when the Gladiators' Kristen Engel sent her attempt wide. Kristen O'Leary evened things for South, setting the stage for Flood's heroics.
Before Flood stepped on the field, New Hyde Park standout Kristen Habenicht had a chance to give her team the edge. But her blast bounced off the post. "That shot could have easily have ricocheted into the net," Fries said. "When it didn't, it was hard to believe that if we scored, we'd win."
Flood's goal sent off a wild celebration that lasted well into the early portion of the other semifinal game between Garden City and Hewlett.
"We wanted to hang around and watch the other game, but we were just so drained from our own game that we decided to go home and rest," Fries said. "Our game was so intense and aggressive. It was great soccer. Neither team let up, especially in overtime."
South's defense withstood a major test without Keri Butler, who strained a hamstring in warm-ups. It was also without Sam Capone and forward Bridget Amitrano. Butler played the last 10 minutes on the semifinal, joining Krista Fiedlick, Lisa Nolan and Stephanie Guaneri in front of Crescenzi, who made 14 saves.
"Adrianna came up huge," Fries said of the young goalkeeper. "She made some big saves and a couple of unbelievable stops."
The goalkeeping and defense paved the way in the Lady Falcons' 3-1 quarterfinal victory over North on Oct. 31. Canle, who helped control the midfield along with Allison Valenti, scored the go-ahead goal late in the first half. Amitrano had a goal and an assist. Joanna Comerico also scored.
"We were so ready for that game," Fries said. "It was by far the best game we played against them all year."
North had beaten and tied South during the regular season. And now the shoe is on the other foot. The Lady Falcons beat and tied Garden City during conference play.
"It should be a great championship game," Fries said. "We know it can go either way."
