Eighty minutes wasn’t enough to decide Saturday’s Long Island Class AAA girls’ soccer championship game, but Oceanside needed just 4:48 more to make program history.
Senior Cathryn Evans’ overtime goal off a pass from senior Ryann Zydor gave the Sailors their first-ever L.I. title, 1-0, over Northport at Walt Whitman High School.
“Every team kind of sets goals in the beginning of the season and you set winning states as the highest goal,” Oceanside coach Danielle Chiera said. “In this case, we wanted to repeat a county title, but then really see how much farther we could go. We were really happy that all of our success and hard work paid off to win a county final, but now to win a Long Island championship for the first time in program history is really something special for our school and our community.”
The golden goal also signified the school’s first L.I. crown since 2004 when the baseball team accomplished the feat.
This one hit close to home for Chiera and her coaching staff.
“Three of the four coaching members are all Oceanside High School alumni,” Chiera said. “We all played sports at Oceanside and none of us had this opportunity, so it’s really special for us. It’s also special for all of the girls that came before us.
“Oceanside has always had really strong girls soccer teams, so this win was for all of them, including the 1978-79 team that is going to be inducted to the Hall of Fame,” she added. “This is something that’s super generational and we’re just happy that we can represent Oceanside on Long Island.”
Zydor found Evans in the crowded box for the overtime winner, sending the Sailors to Cortland, N.Y. with a chance at the New York State Class AAA title on Saturday.
“We were battling all game, I think we were all just exhausted,” Evans said. “But we kept our motivation, kept that drive and then I got the ball sent to me and I just knew I had to turn, find the ball and shoot. It was an awesome feeling. We’re pretty much making history and that’s a very good feeling.”
It was Northport’s lone loss of 2025. The Tigers finished 17-1-2.
“I just saw her [Evans] running in from the outside and I knew I had no angle, so I just tapped it to her and kind of prayed that she got to it,” Zydor said.
Oceanside’s goalkeeper, Ella Murray, stood on her head all afternoon, ending the day with nine saves and the shutout. “I really didn’t want to let the team down, didn’t want to let myself down,” Murray said. “I did everything I could.”
Everything was needed, as the Sailors (10-4-3) prevented Suffolk County’s leading goal scorer, Ava DeMarco, from finding the back of the net. DeMarco had 4 goals and 2 assists in Northport’s 6-2 win over Commack in the Suffolk Class AAA final.
It was a complete effort from Murray and her defense that locked it down.
“Ella Murray is an unbelievable soccer player, but she’s an amazing athlete,” Chiera said. “She plays goalie for us, but she does not play goalie on her club team. This isn’t even her position, but what she’s capable of between the posts is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She is one of the MVPs of our team and she really is the reason we won this Long Island championship today.”
As for the back line of defense.
“We had Maddy McMurray and Jordyn Davis both in the center,” Chiera said. “Addison Goldstein played the whole game on the right side. On the left side, we were split between Ryann [Zydor] and Ella Hickey. Every single one of them stepped to every ball, won the 50-50s. They really kind of brought confidence to our back line and a couple of plays slipped through, but their recovery was fantastic.”
The job isn’t finished, as Oceanside sails upstate with a state title in its sights.
