Lions Shutout Rival East Islip 1-0, Advance to Semis

Just over 14 minutes remained in a scoreless tie between the crosstown-rival West Islip and East Islip girls varsity soccer teams. West Islip junior Taylor LaRose lined up a seemingly innocent free kick from about 40 yards out as head coach Nick Grieco was yelling from the sideline to "just put it on frame."

LaRose's shot was not only on frame, but it sailed right over East Islip keeper Dana Henderson's head and into the back of the net. The long-distance goal shocked a crowd full of fans from both towns as the West Islip portion erupted with the sudden realization the Lions finally had the lead. The Lions were able to keep the Lady Redmen at bay until the buzzer sounded and the team stormed onto the field to celebrate a 1-0 second-round playoff victory.

"She's been putting them on frame all year and she just put it in the right place at the right time," Grieco said. "Some go over, some hit the crossbar. Today it went in the back of the net."

The victory not only sent No. 5 West Islip (14-1-3) to the Suffolk County AA semifinals, it clinched their third victory of the season over East Islip (10-7-1) and added another chapter in the storied rivalry.  The Lions defeated East Islip 3-1  back on Sept. 24 and again on Oct. 14, 1-0.

"Winning the past two games [against East Islip] we were coming into it as -- we know how they're playing, we know their style, but we still have to work just as hard," LaRose said. "It was just the best feeling ever to beat them three times in one season."

"It was great," Grieco added. "Two years ago they beat us twice in the league and they beat us in the finals. This year we kind of had their number. They're a good team and worked extremely hard today."

The Lady Redmen had the ball in West Islip's zone for much of the first half, but the Lions' defense and another stellar game from senior keeper Samantha Whitney kept them off the scoreboard. It was Whitney's second shutout of the playoffs and 11th of the season. The Lions needed to make an adjustment at halftime, and that's exactly what they did.

"We just had to get better organized defensively," Grieco said. "They were switching a lot of players. Sometimes they had two forwards and sometimes they had three so we got a little more organized and as the second half went on we kind of adjusted to what was going on and took it to them."

The defending Long Island Champions move on to face No.9 North Babylon Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2:30 p.m. North Babylon defeated Whitman 2-0 Wednesday to make the semifinal matchup with West Islip official.

"We just take it game by game," Grieco said. "Saturday's going to be a tough opponent…we're not going to take anyone lightly. We're just going to keep preparing and play West Islip soccer and whatever happens, happens."

"We're looking to give as much effort and heart into the game as we can because this it," LaRose added. "We have to win."