DeVito leads comeback as SWR girls advance to final

CORTLAND, N.Y. - The majority spoke for a late lunch after the game. Jen DeVito didn't care where the team was headed, so long as it wasn't home.

The first thing Shoreham-Wading River coach Bob Vlahakis asked his team after its 14-11 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima in the state Class C girls lacrosse semifinals at SUNY Cortland was: Should they head back to the hotel or head straight to lunch? Food won.

Comebacks must make a team hungry.

Down 11-8 with 15:54 remaining, Shoreham-Wading River (18-2) scored six unanswered goals to close the game. The tying and winning goals were both scored by DeVito.

She took a feed from Codi Mullen and ripped a high shot to tie the score at 11 with 9:47 to play, and then converted a free position to make it 12-11 just 38 seconds later. Kait Brosco had two goals during the final stretch, including a free position to pull Shoreham-Wading River within 11-9.

"There was no way I wanted to go home today at all," DeVito said. "Senior year, we all wanted it so bad, so I just did what I had to do."

Shoreham-Wading River advances to Saturday afternoon's final against Carthage looking for its fourth straight state title. The Wildcats beat Carthage by 10 in last year's state semifinal. "We'll see," DeVito said, "if it's the same team as last year. Hopefully we can do it again."

SEE PHOTOSSWR 14, Honeoye Fall-Lima 11

DeVito said she and her team bought into that attitude a little too much against Honeoye Falls-Lima (15-6), another team they beat last season. Though the first half was close throughout - Shoreham-Wading River went into the locker room with an 8-6 lead - HFL was the aggressor coming out of intermission.

Lindsay Powell, who finished with a game-high seven goals, scored three of her team's five goals during an 8:34 spurt in which they took an 11-8 lead.

"During halftime, they got a little energy and we kind of laid back and we realized we couldn't do that anymore," DeVito said. "We were a little nervous, but we're not going to give it up that easy."

Vlahakis opted to face-guard Powell, who'll play with Brosco at Notre Dame next season, down the stretch because she was gashing his defense with her hard shot and swift feet.

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"We were at the danger point," Vlahakis said. "We wanted to upset their offense because they depend on her so much. I didn't think they could engineer a comeback without her."

Shoreham-Wading River didn't allow a goal in nearly 16 minutes to close the game. They put it away when Megan Gersbeck swiped a goal in field-hockey style with 4:43 to go.