Facing its second straight opponent coming off a huge upset in the Nassau Class A girls soccer playoffs, Seaford needed just 38 seconds to set the stage for a repeat county championship Saturday night.
Junior Guiliana Viggiano scored her first of two goals to stun fourth-seeded Floral Park early and the Vikings were relentless in the second half to pull away for a 4-1 victory at Farmingdale State College. Juniors Riley Stovall and Georgina Deros also scored for No. 3 Seaford (12-4-2), which will meet either Mount Sinai or Harborfields in the Long Island Class A championship Thursday at 6 p.m. at Farmingdale State.
“We talked about how important the first five minutes were going to be,” Viggiano said. “We really capitalized in that opening minute and that got us going for the rest of the night. It was all such a blur. Zoey [Qosa] got the ball to me and I turned and shot. It felt great to see it go in.”
Seaford managed only one other shot on goal in the opening half but completely dominated possession in the second half against the Knights, who were making their first-ever appearance on the county finals stage after upsetting No. 1-seeded Plainedge in the semis.
Floral Park will return nine starters next year. Seaford started eight underclassmen. The teams split regular-season meetings, but Floral Park’s 3-2 decision Oct. 9 ended with 25 minutes still remaining due to darkness.
“I think what happened three weeks ago gave us added motivation tonight,” Seaford coach Ken Botti said. “That early goal was huge. We like playing with a lead and getting that confidence. It allowed us to take a deep breath and settle into the game.
“The rest of the first half was stuck in the midfield, but we came out on fire in the second half,” he added. “We didn’t put enough shots on frame until the second half and we maintained steady pressure.”
Stovall, playing her first game in three weeks due to injury, made it 2-0 just over a minute into the second half. She intercepted a clearing pass and ripped home a 25-yarder. “I had so much energy,” she said. “My adrenaline was through the roof.”
Deros made it 3-0 off a pass from Emerson Dean, and Viggiano capped Seaford’s scoring with 10 minutes remaining. Christina Vargas scored on a penalty kick with less than a minute to play to avoid the shutout.
Seaford senior keeper Kelly Harrington, a first-year soccer player working behind a defensive unit led by Jozie Collichio, Kendall Tricoli, Katelyn McHugh and Alessia Mitarotonda, made 4 saves. Harrington blanked seventh-seeded Island Trees, which upset No. 2 Wantagh in the quarterfinals, 1-0 in the semis with 5 saves with Tricoli providing the lone goal on a penalty kick.
“Kelly’s a great story,” Botti said of Harrington. “She’s only been playing soccer for two-and-a-half months. She played volleyball last year but committed herself to all of our offseason workouts and really stepped up for us.”
