Taylor Hoss nets 6 goals as Sayville girls lacrosse tops Shoreham-Wading River
Sayville's Taylor Hoss (9) looks to get around Shoreham Wading River's Brooke Melcher (1) in the second half during the Suffolk High School girls lacrosse game between Sayville and Shoreham-Wading River on Tuesday April 19, 2022 at Sayville High School. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Although she’s certainly enjoyed the Sayville girls lacrosse team’s overall success this season, Taylor Hoss was still waiting to see a real early-game jolt from her squad.
And on Tuesday afternoon, Hoss and the rest of the Golden Flashes broke ou.
Hoss tallied six goals, and Jordan Messina and Ally Reilly added three goals apiece as host Sayville defeated Shoreham-Wading River, 13-8, in Suffolk II.
Sayville (6-2) entered the locker room with an 8-3 advantage after the first half After a goal from Grayce Kitchen at 8:09 brought Shoreham within 4-2, the Golden Flashes responded with four consecutive goals within a nearly three-minute span.
Hoss notched two goals during the stretch and Messina tacked on the final score with 3:52 left before halftime.
“That was so important,” Hoss said. “I think this year we’ve struggled at the beginning of games to get out really fast. And I think in this game we were really good on the draws and we were able to take advantage of those opportunities.”
The Golden Flashes continued to apply similar pressure in the second half, putting together another 4-0 spurt over the opening seven minutes. Messina both jump-started and capped the rally with her final two goals of the afternoon.
Shoreham (4-4) answered with four unanswered goals of its own to cut the deficit to 12-7 with 11:12 remaining, but Sayville’s defense regrouped and limited the Wildcats to just one goal the rest of the way.
“We really started moving a lot,” said Messina, who also had one assist. “We’ve been in this offensive set for a long time now. So we’re starting to find those connections. I know me and Taylor are starting to understand what we want from each other and we’re really starting to work off of each other.”
Hoss opened the scoring about two minutes in and three ensuing goals from the Golden Flashes gave Sayville a 4-1 lead with 11:43 left in the first half. Jess Harclerode made 13 saves for the Golden Flashes.
With his team consistently facing other immensely talented groups, Sayville coach Adam Sznitken understands the potential impact of executing at a high level during short stretches.
“A lot of times in games like this, a four-minute span can really change things,” Sznitken said. “They were very good and weren’t going to back down. They had a good little four-minute span also late. We were fortunate to have ours early and give us a nice little cushion, and it worked out.”
