Conto, Brent lead Sacred Heart to final

The Sacred Heart girls lacrosse team wouldn't allow itself to commit sports' cardinal sin: looking to the future with an opponent present. But little time elapsed after the Spartans wrapped up a 20-11 win over St. John the Baptist Saturday in the CHSAA Class AA semifinals before the Spartans fixed their minds to what awaits them.

Sure, there was a quick celebration -- team photos, coach Morgan Molinari's bubble wand -- but then . . .

"St. Anthony's," Spartans goalie Emma Salter said. "They're never far from our thoughts. It's always in the back of our mind."

For good reason. The Friars have denied Sacred Heart in the final the last three seasons. They'll meet again at 5 p.m. Tuesday at C.W. Post and, though there isn't animosity among the players, it's very much a grudge match.

But in order for that to happen, there was this: Becky Conto scored six goals and contributed four assists to lead No. 2 Sacred Heart (15-5). Kristin Brent scored six goals, including her team's first three in the opening seven minutes. Nina Corcoran celebrated her 17th birthday by adding two goals and five assists, and Salter made five saves.

"It's a great experience to play close and then be able to step it up and swipe the momentum late," Brent said, referring to her team's second-half flurry after trailing 8-7 at halftime.

Sans the final eight minutes, when the Spartans tacked on six goals, the game was back and forth with eight ties. The Cougars led 7-5 after Danielle Jaycox's goal with 5:33 left in the first half. Brent put Sacred Heart up for good at 10-9, scoring on a long rifle shot from just inside the 8-meter arc with 17:27 remaining. Meghan Breen's second goal, on a one-timer from Conto, made it 11-9 at 15:03.

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" came out really strong and wanted to win, as did we," Breen said. "But we were making a lot of mistakes early on . . . We talked about how badly we wanted to be in the final again, and we straightened it out."

Kaitlyn Montalbano had three goals and two assists for the third-seeded Cougars (12-9). Jaycox added three goals, Jill May and Giulianna Rizzotti each scored twice, and Katelyn Coon made eight saves.

"We got here and that's an accomplishment," SJB coach Janine Pirone said. The Cougars, who graduate four, had reached the AA semifinals for the first time. "We're a young team and this is just the first step for us."

But for the Spartans there is urgency, and that old nemesis.

"We want St. Anthony's," Corcoran said. "If we're going to win a championship, it'll be most rewarding if we go through them."