Repeat county title for South Side

In South Side’s storied girls’ soccer history, never before had it reached the Nassau County championship stage with as young a roster as it did this fall.

And with six sophomores in their starting lineup, the top-seeded Cyclones made it back-to-back county titles with a 2-0 victory over No. 5 Manhasset on Tuesday night at Cold Spring Harbor High School.

Overtime was less than 10 minutes away when senior Emma Madden scored the eventual game-winning goal for South Side (12-3-2), which won its 28th Nassau crown and advanced to meet East Islip in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional Final this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Shoreham-Wading River High School.

Sophomore Nora Basile added an insurance marker with 3:22 remaining following a free kick by sophomore Kayla Hubler, who assisted on both goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Avery Testa made 3 saves, all from close range, for her second shutout of the playoffs.

“It feels amazing to win another county championship and to play such a big part in it,” Hubler said. “We knew if we kept the pressure on good things would happen. I knew we had the fire in us.”

Manhasset junior Alexis Lin, the only goalkeeper to blank South Side all season when the teams battled to a scoreless draw Oct. 15, was busy throughout and made 10 saves with her best coming against a relentless Anna Pennecke, one of the Cyclones’ four senior starters who scored the decisive goal in their 2-1 semifinal win over No. 3 Garden City last Saturday.

“We talked about playing a full 80 minutes and I don’t think overtime was on anyone’s mind,” said South Side coach Judi Croutier, who returned this fall after guiding the team to eight county and L.I. titles from 2002-2009. “It was great to see the girls grow as a team and jell,” she added. “They learned to trust each other and work together, and they meshed at the right time.”

The Cyclones, behind a defense led by senior Christina LiCalzi and sophomores Hubler, Morgan Harloff and Charely Doreste, allowed just four goals in four postseason games.

“We’ve worked extremely hard and I’m so proud of everyone on this team,” senior Emma Hospodka said. “We came into tonight confident but we knew it would be a hard-fought game. We didn’t score until the end but I never had a doubt it my mind we’d find a way.”