It was a full-circle moment for Kaylie Conklin and nine other Seaford seniors.
Conklin scored off a rebound in the 11th minute of Saturday night’s Nassau Class A girls’ soccer championship game and that’s all the offense the top-seeded Vikings needed to capture their second county title in four years, 1-0 over No. 3 Plaindege at Adelphi University.
“We’ve been on a mission,” Conklin said. "We were very determined and very aggressive. We have 12 seniors and 10 of us were on the 2022 county championship team. We’ve been right there all four years and we were not losing this game.”
The Vikings (12-0-5) haven’t lost at all in 2025 and advance to face Sayville for the Long Island Class A title Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Harborfields High School. Plainedge, which battled Seaford to a pair of regular-season draws and knocked off defending county champion Wantagh in the semifinals, finished 9-3-2.
“We knew it was going to be another battle,” Seaford coach Ken Botti said. “We knew chances were going to be few and far between. The girls were ready to step up to the plate and it feels good.”
The lone goal originated from a corner kick off the foot of senior Meghan Stovall, and sophomore Grace Cullingford was credited with the assist. After a loose-ball scramble in the box and a point-blank save by Plainedge keeper Cayla Bloom, Conklin cashed in. After all, she’s the Vikings’ leading scorer with 10 goals and 10 assists.
“Last game we had a similar situation that we scored on,” Conklin said referring to the 5-1 semifinal win over Floral Park Oct 27. “I knew I had to follow the ball. I knew we all had to crash in and I happened to be the one that got there.”
The Red Devils scored five times against Seaford in two previous meetings: a wild 4-4 deadlock Sept. 18 and a tighter 1-1 draw Oct. 16. Victoria Truncali, Allie Younghans and Amanda Martone turned up the pressure but couldn’t crack the scoreboard this time.
“The team gave everything they had all season,” Plainedge coach Mike Vitale said. “Making it to the county finals was a testament to their hard work and focus. We have a strong core returning next year and I’m confident we’ll build on what we started.”
Working behind a defense led by seniors Kiera Lukas, Mia Leggio and Linda Donovan, and sophomores Riley Stovall and Kendall Tricoli, freshman goalkeeper Caden Calderaro turned aside all 4 shots she faced and also doused several other Plainedge threats.
"We communicate well," Calderaro said. "We're composed and play simple and calm."
The shutout was Seaford's ninth of the season.
“We’ve been a strong defensive unit for two years,” Botti explained. “Caden has progressed throughout the season and came up big again tonight.”
Protecting the lead for more than 68 minutes was one thing, but doing so without an injured Riley Stovall for the final 25 was another.
“Losing Riley was really hard but we’ve got a deep bench and a lot of fresh legs,” Conklin said.
