Garden City Girls Win Nassau County Soccer Championship

As the saying in team sports goes, ‘Defense wins Titles’! Garden City has put it to the test and proved it’s based in fact for them. The Lady Trojans captured the Nassau County Championship last night over rival South Side after a hard fought, 110 minute battle that saw neither team capable of breaking down a wall in front of their very capable keepers. Regulation time saw the Trojans come up with at least three great scoring chances denied by the South Side active keeper, while their keeper, Kathryn Larsson, had to stay on her toes a couple of times. The two 10 minute OT’s and two five minute sudden death periods may have had the fans in the stands on edge but you could see neither team was going to allow a breakdown in this game.

Going to penalty kicks for a second consecutive game, the girls were relaxed and buried four of their five shots, with Kelly George striking the last one for the clincher. Stepping up to the challenge in goal, Larsson fully extended to save South Side's third shot and played big in forcing the last shot to go wide.

The shutout victory was the fourth in a row for Garden City as their defense has clamped down on opposing teams. On the season the girls have only allowed 12 goals in 17 games, seven coming in just two of the earlier games, meaning they have only surrendered 5 goals in the other 15 games.

The game was a repeat of the semi-final win by GC over Wantagh, also a win in PK’s, in which the Garden City defense played an aggressive, stifling game. Led by backs Jackie Morris, Gabby Rogers and Kate Farrell, and the tough play in the middle by stoppers Katherine Galzerano and Megan Seel, the Garden City defense has limited the number of good chances throughout the playoffs. And when a team does get into position to break through, keeper Larsson has come up with the key save.

Coaches Mike Heedles and Scott McAuley don’t just preach that defense starts and ends with the players who form the backline, but it extends to everyone on the field, making sure every ball is contested and each opponent is marked. Midfielders Kelly Donovan, Emma Weiland and Claire Gallic, along with forwards Kelly George and Deanna Weisenburger have stepped up to that challenge and go after every loose ball like the game depends on it. And turn those challenges into good scoring chances.

This was Garden City’s second consecutive win over South Side in PK’s and propels them into the Long Island Championship on Friday at St. Joseph’s in Patchogue against Suffolk champion Mt. Sinai at 4:00. Coach Heedles and the girls will hope to keep this going and bring home a third LI championship, having previously won in 2010 and 2013 (maybe every three years is the charm).