By Steve Siniski
Those two shots were just the start of a flurry lasting for much of the first 10 minutes of the half, as the Lady Sailors scored the game¹s only two goals to advance to the championship game against top-seeded Massapequa, which was scheduled for Tuesday at John J. Walker Memorial Park.
The winner of the Nassau County Class AA championship will advance to the Long Island Championship, scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Center Moriches High School.
Caitlyn Collins scored Oceanside¹s first goal at the 47-minute mark on a shot Stolz could not control just to the right of the East Meadow net. Collins, one of three Lady Sailors on the scene, came out of the scramble with the ball and booted it into the open net. Three minutes later, Nadia Scasso scored from 30 yards out, lofting a ball into the East Meadow crease that managed to carry over Stolz¹s head.
"We realized that we were not playing our game," Collins said of the early second-half barrage. "We weren¹t taking the greatest touches and we weren't playing as a team."
Both Collins and Nicole Capo, the Lady Sailors¹ two co-captains, agreed that the early goal provided the confidence boost the team needed.
Oceanside goaltender Danielle Gura recorded her fourth shutout in five games, turning back a number of East Meadow scoring opportunities. She punched a shot by Colleen Schweiger over the net with eight minutes to play and turned back a rush by Courtney Gross midway through the second half on a breakaway.
"Oceanside performed very well, and earned the victory tonight," East Meadow coach Matt Pedicini said.
Lady Sailors sweeper Jenna Ripepe wears No. 1, and it makes you wonder if it¹s because she¹s the one player on defense in front of Gura, and often the one player making last-second clears in the defensive zone. Her speed and ability to close on the ball kept some of the heat off Gura, and included a break-up of a second potential breakaway in the second half by Gross.
"We didn¹t compete the way we needed to compete to get the [win]," Pedicini said.
Were it not for the play of Stolz in the East Meadow net, Oceanside could have put even more balls in the net. Juliana Speroni and Rosie Vitla teamed up several times on through balls where Stolz was able to win a footrace to the ball. And Shannon Farrell could often be found within several feet of the Lady Jets¹ goaltender, making her presence felt.
The Lady Sailors¹ win was their second straight over a higher seed in the Class AA playoffs. They knocked off No. 3 Farmingdale in sudden death penalty kicks, 6-5, on Nov. 1. Katie Lynch, who scored the game-tying goal in the 65th minute of regulation, also converted the game-winning penalty kick.
Oceanside opened the postseason by defeating No. 11 Mepham 1-0 on Oct. 27. Scasso converted a perfectly placed shot with 13 minutes to play in regulation for the only score.
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Photos by Andrew Vardakis/Herald
