Massapequa Ends Lady Cougars Soccer Season

Going into Tuesday evening's Class AA girls soccer quarterfinal match up, not many people gave Kennedy a legitimate shot against undefeated Massapequa, who were pegged as the favorite to win the county title at the start of the season.  

The eighth-seeded Lady Cougars (11-5-1) gave a hard-nosed effort for the full 80 minutes against the top-seeded Lady Chiefs (14-0-1), but fell on the road behind a late goal from sophomore Rosie DiMartino with just 10 minutes remaining.  

"We matched them very well today. Unfortunately, we just came up short,"  Kennedy head coach Janine Bizelia said. "With our intensity, work ethic, and game plan coming out, making them move to defend their team, I think this was the best I've seen my team play. Morgan [Kitton] had a couple of opportunities, but just couldn't finish."  

Massapequa put the pressure on Kennedy early under the lights at John J. Burns Park, but the Cougars turned the tables and created chances of their own late in the first half. The best opportunity for the Cougars came early in the second half when the senior Kitton took a pass for a breakaway but Massapequa senior Tori Lander made a play from behind to deflect the shot wide.  

The Chiefs outshot the Cougars 24-7 for the game, but the most important of those shots came in the 70th minute when DiMartino took a pass from sophomore Erica Modena to put the lone goal past junior goalkeeper Jillian Waller.  

"I think we just composed and when we got the opportunity, my teammates just did a great job to help me get that goal," DiMartino said. "But they gave us a great run. They put a lot of pressure on us the whole game."  

Senior Allie Keller, along with fellow seniors Danielle Liotta, Kayleigh Gresier, Samantha Rothery, and Stacey Wolfson, anchored the tough Kennedy defense that kept them in the game until the final whistle.  

"We just needed to play together and shift as a team which I think we did and we just worked hard," Keller said. "We tried really hard and had great opportunities, but it was just unlucky that we didn't finish today."   

Massapequa earned its 13th shutout of the season and looks to continue its success against Farmingdale, who defeated Calhoun on Tuesday afternoon.  

"Kennedy deserves a ton of credit. They played very smart, sound and were disciplined defensively," Massapequa head coach Bruce Stegner said. "They had two or three legitimate chances, so we are thankful that we got back on defense to save them."

Kennedy reached the county quarterfinals for the first time in school history and were a few breaks away from advancing a round further.

"I think we grew today as a team, whether they're graduating or they're with me next year, we've only gotten better by this experience," Bizelia said. "I couldn't have been been more proud of how my team played today."  

Massapequa will play Farmingdale for a third time this season, this match up for a chance to advance to the Class AA finals. The game will take place on Friday at 4 p.m. at Denton Avenue.            

"We have played Farmingdale before and have beat them," Stegner said. "They are a tough team, so hopefully we don't go into the game overconfident."