Hills West Girls Soccer Clinches First-Ever Playoff Berth

As if they weren't soaked enough from the rain, as soon as the final horn sounded, the Colts showered each other with soda water to celebrate the team's first-ever postseason berth in the program's four-year history.

If that were not enough, with a 7-0 shutout of Riverhead to cap the regular season, the Colts also took the League IV regular season title. They finished with a 13-2 record overall, 10-2 in League IV. Riverhead fell to 3-10 overall, 2-10 in League IV.

Hero: Julia DiMaria, Hills West's all-time leading goal scorer, put in a hat trick for the Colts. The first came less than 10 minutes into the game as she took a cross from Marissa Rosen and drilled it into the left side of the net to give Hills West a 1-0 lead.

Four minutes later, she curled in a left-footed shot, and less than four minutes after that, she dribbled through three Riverhead defenders on her way to a third goal.

Also scoring for the Colts were Anna Inserra, Sarah Matzelle, Marissa Rosen and Lauren Pabish.

Turning Point: The Colts came out aggressively on defense, and by the time DiMaria scored with 30:27 left in the first half, they had already had several scoring opporutnities.

That never really changed, as Riverhead was forced to spend virtually the entire half in its own defensive zone. Only rarely did the Blue Waves clear the ball, and even then the Colts' defense did not let them run, beating them to the ball and kicking it back downfield.

Quotable: "It means a lot ot the team, the program, the seniors," Colts coach Keith Ginsberg said. "A lot of them were here all four years, so to go out on the right track, they talked about and finally have something to show for it."

But the Colts will not spend much time resting on their regular season laurels.

"We want to celebrate it and then start preparing for the playoffs tomorrow," Ginsberg added. "We still have higher goals."

Bottom Line: After coming off a loss to Comsewogue, the Colts' victory gave them a springboard of positive emotion heading into the playoffs.

Key Stat: Hills West goalie Eleni Lazarides did not face a shot on goal until the second half, and tallied just three saves. Meanwhile, the Colts scored seven goals on 29 shots.

Who's Next: Playoff seeding for the AA brackets will be set on Friday. Ginsberg expects the Colts will be hosting their first ever playoff game, but the matchups have not yet been set. Game time for the pending matchup will be on Saturday at 12 p.m.

League IV Girls Soccer

TEAMS…………………………….1…..2 – F

Hills West...............………5…..2 – 7

Riverhead..………………….0…..0 – 0

Goals: HW: DiMaria 3, Rosen, Inserra, Pabisch, Matzelle. Saves: HW - Lazarides 3; R - Carrera 14, Gallo 8.