GC Girls Soccer Ties South Side

South Side came to Garden City on Saturday with one thing in mind, to avenge the lone loss on their record. The Cyclones have played a few tight games but came into the match with a five-game winning streak and a 6-1 overall record.

The Garden City girls came into the match after a tough week in which they had a loss and a tie. But with a game against South Side all past records can be tossed out the window as the two teams appear to know each other well enough that it’s always a tough match, year after year. And this one shaped up as a good one considering GC had defeated South Side 2-1 on their home field earlier in the season.

From the opening whistle the Lady Trojans challenged for every ball and carried the play in their half of the field. The high pressure worked when only eight minutes into the match senior Kylie Brunning won a battle along the sideline with defender Morgan Harloff and beat her around the corner. Brunning then fired a beautiful cross into the box that found the head of an oncoming Maya Costa who stepped in front of the defense and put the ball over South Side keeper Avery Testa. So, with just over eight minutes gone by in the first half Garden City had the early 1-0 lead.

For the next twenty-four minutes the game was an up and down the field battle of two talented teams. Garden City continued to attack with pressure applied by Catherine Hayes, Kathryn Monaco, Chloe Benik, Costa, and Brunning but were stopped by an active keeper in Testa. Supporting their keeper with solid defensive plays were Hannah Porter, Christina Licalzi, Kayla Hubler and Brenna Haynes.

When South Side attacked, the ball moved quickly through the midfield and out to the wings. Doing the work on the offensive end of the field were Emma Madden, Nora Basile, Reese Haley and Magie Colvin. With the pressure coming at them, the GC defense stood tall in front of eight grade keeper Marisa Patrissi. Challenging each 50-50 ball and closing down the passing lanes as best they could were seniors Caitlin McNaboe, Renee Gollisz, Samantha Meija and soph Lauren Hohenberger.

With just about eight minutes remaining in the half, South Side found a gap in the Garden City defense and Hannah Porter got off a hard shot that Trojan keeper Patrissi got in front of but couldn’t grab the rebound. The ball bounced away and landed at the foot of Sienna Connolly who deftly placed the ball into the goal for a tie game.

The second half was much like the middle 20 minutes of the first half, with both teams playing hard, forcing the play into the offensive end of the field but coming up empty as both Patrissi and Testa played excellent in the goal. South Side had several scoring chances that sailed wide of the goal early in the half. And then possibly their best chance came with only 15 seconds remaining in the game as Porter fired a shot from the top of the box, but Patrissi was in perfect position and made a sliding save to keep the game tied.

Garden City had several chances on corner kicks late in the game but each time the South Side defense turned them away. Driving the ball into the middle with their corner kicks were Riley Donohue, Maya Costa and Aliva Gordon. GC also had several free kicks that were just out of the range of Gollisz to make them dangerous, but nevertheless, it kept the pressure on South Side each time.

It was a tough match, a game that both teams wanted, but one where neither side would relent and give up that second goal. Some will say this was a good tie, others might say it was a bad tie. Either way, it will be exciting to see if these teams meet in the playoffs what they have in store for their fans – as this was an entertaining match.

Garden City has a full week coming up as they are home to Wantagh on Monday and Plainedge on Friday. In between the two league matches the girls will head over to Sacred Heart for a friendly match on a scheduled off day. While South Side takes on Plainedge at home on Monday and travel to Mepham on Wednesday.