South Side edges Massapequa

Looking for its third straight victory after three consecutive losses to start the season, visiting South Side led Massapequa most of the way in their Conference I girls’ lacrosse matchup on April 3 but needed some last-minute heroics to get the job done.

Senior Maggie Cifarelli converted a feed from freshman Bridget Considine with 40 seconds remaining for the game-winning goal in South Side’s 13-12 victory. The Lady Cyclones won the ensuing face-off and ran out the clock in what was their first victory over the Lady Chiefs in coach Meaghan Healey’s 17 years at the helm. Senior Briar Rose DeTomasso (four goals, two assists), Cifarelli (hat trick, two assists) and Considine (one goal, four assists) led the offense.

“I’ve kept saying to the girls we’re a work in progress, and we sort of just clicked in this game,” Healey said. “They were emotionally invested and came up big at the end when it felt like Massapequa had the momentum.

“We made better choices on attack and did a nice job on draws,” she added. “We didn’t want overtime. I didn’t know if we reached our plateau in the game or not, but we won a key draw and Maggie made a great cut on the winning goal.”

Junior Tessa Considine, who handles the majority of face-offs, took the draw that led to the winning goal. She added three points. Senior Juliana Pellegrini, who scored twice, scooped up the grounder and got the ball to Bridget Considine, who found Cifarelli in stride. “Beating Hewlett and Friends Academy prior to this helped the girls from a motivational standpoint going into Massapequa,” Healey said. “They came into the game believing they could hang with them.”

The Lady Cyclones were coming off a 19-10 victory over Friends on the last day of March. They had five players score at least three goals, and got seven off the stick of DeTomasso, a four-year varsity performer coming off an All-Conference campaign. She added four assists for an 11-point game and has 23 goals and nine assists after six contests. “She’s an attack-minded player and a strong finisher who works well with everyone,” Healey said. 

Cifarelli, both Considines, and Pellegrini had three goals apiece, and a revamped defense led by seniors Allie Ford and Katie Ford had one of its finest efforts of the season. “Our defense has been pretty consistent,” said Healey, who noted strong contributions from juniors Anna LePetri, Megan Albertsen and Bridie Riordan in the back. “They understand each other’s slides and communicate well.”

Junior Alyssa Knab is doing a fine job in goal after playing the lion’s share of minutes in 2013. “She worked really hard during the offseason, and it shows,” Healey said. “She’s quick to the ball and mechanically sound.” 

After losses to Kellenberg, Farmingdale, and Manhasset to open the year, South Side, which reached the Nassau Class B quarterfinals a year ago, got in the win column March 29 with a 17-13 triumph at Hewlett behind five Pellegrini goals and Cifarelli’s three goals and six helpers.