Lady Jets Fall in Sudden Death Heartbreaker

Higher seeding, home field advantage and a good first half of girls soccer action may have raised hope for supporters of the East Meadow High School on Friday afternoon against Syosset.

After playing commanding soccer for 40 minutes, the Lady Jets let a 1-0 lead slip out of their hands and ultimately their hopes for a shot at Massapequa in the second round of Class AA action – in a 2-1 double overtime sudden death loss.

Despite winning only a couple of regular season games, the Conference I East Meadow girls soccer team went into the first round of Nassau County Class AA playoff action ranked sixth, against 11th seed Syosset (10-4) from Conference II.

By the looks of the first half, the seeding appeared well deserved. Senior Meghan Cleary was dominating in the middle of the field, sophomore Jenna Borresen provided a solid presence on the defensive end, and senior Anna Cantar kept the Lady Jets offense in high gear with a harrying attack at the goal mouth.

In fact, East Meadow goalie Madison Young (14 saves) barely had to touch the ball during the first half, with her teammates keeping the pressure on with good ball control and plenty of hustle.

The Lady Jets’ goal came after a series of four corner kicks in the space of two minutes, all handled by pack, who slammed the inbounds kick home for a 1-0 lead with 5:34 remaining in the half.

But in the second half, Syosset demonstrated why it had won eleven games and finished near the top of Conference II. Their offense exercised better ball control, quickness to contested balls and the pressure on Young mounted.

“I guess we got a little tired,” said East Meadow coach Adam Hananel. “And Syosset got stronger.”

After several nice saves, including at least two where she punched the ball harmlessly away, a nice diving save on a shot on goal turned into disaster, as a clearing pass was intercepted by Syosset right in front of the goal for an easy score.

That 1-1 tie held through regulation – a late flurry from East Meadow to pull out the win at home failed, with two offsides in a row thwarting any real scoring opportunity.

Sudden death overtime was a tense affair, with both teams battling to a standstill for 10 minutes apiece. But in the second overtime, Syosset put the game away a half minute into it, as their forward Gianna Romano took a pass on the left sidelines, split two defenders, and raced toward goal – putting a slashing cross-goalmouth shot past the reach of Young.

“Sports is a game of inches,” Hananel said after the game “A step too fast, a step too slow. It was not the most successful season, but this is a team that kept fighting and fighting. We got better over the season, through the time and effort of everyone involved – especially the seniors.”