Locust Valley's Lindsay Bleistein during practice.

Locust Valley's Lindsay Bleistein during practice. Credit: Sandy Jozefowski

Happy Birthday, Lindsay Bleistein!

She celebrated her 16th birthday on Tuesday by scoring the winner in overtime as Locust Valley upset Cold Spring Harbor, 1-0, in Nassau Conference I field hockey.

The Falcons have had a few impressive victories in recent years, but this one, given the teams' history, might take the cake.

“We had beaten them a couple times when I first started coaching,” Falcons coach Sandy Jozefowski said. “But I don’t think we had beaten them in about nine years.”

While Locust Valley is hoping to ascend, the Seahawks typically are among the final four teams in the playoffs. In fact, the teams had last squared off exactly a year ago to the date, and Cold Spring Harbor won, 7-0.

Well, Bleistein blew the candles out on that one, scoring with 29.6 seconds left in the extra period.

She got a gift from teammate Preston Tansill in the form of a long, on-target pass from outside the circle. Bleistein received the ball near the stroke line and fired into the right of the cage, beyond the goalie’s reach.

“It was like they won the Super Bowl,” Jozefowski said of her team’s reaction. “It was the same feeling we had when we beat North Shore in that playoff game [last season]. They saved the ball and they're really proud of it.”

Gaby DeAngelis made three of her six saves in overtime for the Falcons (4-3). The Seahawks are 0-5 but that record isn't entirely indicative of their abilities. Cold Spring Harbor has played a grueling schedule thus far and its margins of defeat mostly have been narrow.

“Neither team dominated and it could’ve gone either way,” Jozefowski said. “Gaby made some great saves, but so did their goalie... Overtime was intense and crazy, but they stayed strong and were focused the whole game. They deserved it.”

Locust Valley was coming off two tough losses to North Shore and Garden City so this win, the coach said, was “a really good pick-me-up.”

“It's huge,” she said of this victory helping to build momentum. “It lets them know the work is paying off and makes them believe that they can do it.”

A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We’re celebrating Women’s History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

Celebrating Women's History Month at Newsday A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We're celebrating Women's History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

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Celebrating Women's History Month at Newsday A winemaker. A jockey. An astronaut. We're celebrating Women's History month with a look at these and more female changemakers and trailblazers with ties to long Island. 

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