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Light Rain Lady Jets drop title game
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East Meadow's Gabriella Fuduli controls the ball during the second half of the team's 2-0 loss to Massapequa in the Nassau Class AA title game.
Claudio Papapietro/Herald
Top-seeded Massapequa needed just three minutes to get on the board against No. 2 East Meadow in the Nassau Class AA girls soccer championship game and never let off the gas in a 2-0 win, capturing its seventh title in a row.
The Lady Jets were unable to mount a consistent attack and continuously stymied in the offensive zone, managing just five shots on goal and rarely putting Massapequa in a tough spot.
“They definitely played tough and physical,” East Meadow coach Adam Hananel said of the Lady Chiefs. “It seemed like every ball in the air they got to.”
Just as it appeared the Lady Jets weathered an early flurry straight off the opening tap—senior goalkeeper Brittany Anghle had a sliding save inside the 18-yard line and another where she leaped over a Massapequa player in front of the net within the first two minutes—the Lady Chiefs scored on a line drive by that bent into the left corner of the net.
East Meadow managed to regain its bearings after falling behind and slowly started to shift the action to the other side of the field thanks to senior midfielder Christina Tesoriero and junior Luisa Echeverry. Senior midfielder Jessica Widmann and Maryssa Dazzo teamed up to spring Echeverry late in the opening half. Echeverry beat Lady Chiefs keeper Morgan Roessler to the ball and stopped it just before the end line, but her turnaround shot went wide and out of bounds, hitting the side of the net. Freshman midfielder Jaclyn Tortora sent another shot in the 36th minute over the top of the goal.
Anghle, who stopped nine of 11 shots, was let down by one of a goalkeeper’s normal best friends, the crossbar. As Anghle elevated to try and stop Lauren Bischoff’s shot in the 50th minute, the ball ricocheted off the crossbar and back towards the crease, where Shannon Garrity was streaking by and headed it into the net. It all but put the finishing touches on the game. “They had a little more in the tank today and were able to persevere,” Hananel said. “They always find a way [to win].”
The East Meadow defense had a number of strong clears to thwart Massapequa’s oncoming rush. Senior Colleen Schweiger booted a pass through the goal mouth in the 13th minute, while Widmann was effective in forcing several changes of possession. “She’s phenomenal,” Hananel said of Widmann, who was an All-State honoree last season. “She’s a girl that leaves her heart out there.”
East Meadow, which lost in last season’s semifinals, returns a number of key players that took the next step forward in 2009. “You’d like to think that the girls have played on the field [now] and had a couple of experiences,” Hananel said. “Hopefully it translates into the offseason and next year.”
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