Big Win Alert: Cold Spring Harbor over North Shore

A lane opened up…

So, out the window went the initial strategy to stall on offense and hold for a last-second shot. Jillian Lee found room to maneuver from atop the circle, and, clock be damned, she wasn’t passing up the opportunity.

She worked her way to the right, slipped through the defense, and scored the winner from close range with 1:28 remaining as Cold Spring Harbor edged North Shore, 12-11, last night. The win secured a second consecutive Conference IV title for the Seahawks.

“I just saw the opening and I knew what I had to do,” said Lee, who scored twice. “We were planning on stalling, but I knew we needed to score, so I went to goal.”

The Seahawks won the draw after Lee’s go-ahead score, and were able to play keep-away in the final minute.

Cold Spring Harbor had blown a three-goal lead in the waning minutes and, at one point, trailed, but Holly Logan tied it with 2:15 left. The Vikings went ahead with 2:28 remaining, but Logan caught the ball off the ensuing draw, outran the defense on a breakaway and scored in a blink.

“To win this game like that felt amazing,” Lee said. “And to do it for our seniors on Senior Night makes it even more special.”

Kaitlin Heins and coach Danielle Skakandi described it as déjà vu. Last year, too, the teams entered with identical records and the top seed resting on this regular-season finale. And, again, Cold Spring Harbor got a one-goal victory. The teams’ last four meetings have been decided by a goal, and the Seahawks now have won three straight over their rivals.

“We were in the same situation last year, except it was their Senior Day,” Heins said of last season’s 8-7 win at North Shore. Cold Spring Harbor earned the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs but was upset in the semifinals by Locust Valley. “We’re not going to fall short again,” Heins continued. “We really want a county championship and this is the first step.”

Heins and Logan each scored three goals to lead the Seahawks (9-0). Victoria Kotowski added two goals and Jean Atkinson had a goal and an assist. Haley Crosson (three saves) and Thea Leitman (one) combined at goal.

North Shore, coming off a Nassau Class C championship, were dominant in the early portion of this season. Their run included big non-league wins over South Side, Wantagh and Port Washington. And even a one-goal loss to Sacred Heart, in which the Vikings led for much of the way, could have been deemed a moral victory. Cold Spring Harbor, however, seemed to turn it up at midseason. They’ve won nine straight since a three-game series against Massachusetts’ top teams in mid-April.

“North Shore was the team to beat and we were kind of pushed to the side, especially with Seaford having a breakout year,” Skakandi said. (The Rodney Dangerfield-esque “no respect” angle is a tried and true motivational tool.) “But I think sometimes coming from behind makes you hungrier,” she said. “It makes you work harder.”

Tess Korten had three goals and three assists for North Shore (8-1). Carly Comitino scored three goals, Micaela Dussell added two, and Alexis Greene made five saves. Amanda Johansen, who leads Long Island with 115 points, was held to a goal and an assist.

Given the fact that these teams will be favored to square off again in the county final, would the game plan yesterday have been to hold back a little schematically? Or does the conference title – and the rivalry – warrant going all-out?

“Everyone expected us to meet again in the playoffs last year and that didn’t happen,” Skakandi said. “We believe in taking it one game at a time. The good teams get better in the playoffs, and we’ll continue to get better. If that means changing things up in the playoffs, we’ll do that.”

This scenario is reminiscent of last season in, yet, even more ways. The top four seeds in Nassau Class C are the same as in 2011, including Locust Valley having the fourth. Cold Spring Harbor again will have a first-round bye and could face the Falcons in the semifinals. Last year, Locust Valley won, 13-12, in double-overtime on Taylor Bleistein’s goal.

Even in the euphoria of their victory last night, the Seahawks didn't lose perspective.

“This win is definitely a confidence boost, but we won’t get cocky,” Heins said. “We can’t get carried away with this because we didn’t get where we wanted to last year. This is the time when we really have to get focused and buckled in.”

And, as promised, the Senior Day group photo...