Goalie Sidaras leads Floyd over HHH
William Floyd goal keeper Chelsey Sidaras saves a shot on goal by Half Hollow Hills's Jenna Marciano in the Suffolk girls lacrosse game. (April 29, 2011) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
With a pair of attackers charging downfield and her team shorthanded, Floyd goalie Chelsey Sidaras darted out of the crease and intercepted a pass by Half Hollow Hills attack Ariel O'Shea.
Had the aggressive move by Sidaras not paid off, Floyd's lead would surely have been trimmed to one and she would have been under even more pressure. But Sidaras says that would have been OK because she's grown accustomed to it.
"I think I feed off the pressure," Sidaras said. "Some goalies back down, they get nervous, they get scared, but growing up with two older brothers I've always had a lot of pressure on me. I've grown up in the spotlight and I think the pressure makes me better.
"If someone has to step up on the field I'd like it to be me."
Sidaras made 12 saves and intercepted numerous passes, Courtney Murphy had four goals and two assists and Jackie Andersen had three goals and two assists to lead Floyd past Half Hollow Hills, 13-10, in Suffolk Division I girls lacrosse Friday afternoon.
Midfielder Octavia Williams also had two goals and an assist for Floyd (9-1), but like Sidaras, Williams impacted the game most outside of the box score.
When the Johns Hopkins-bound Williams was on the offensive end, she drew as many as five defenders, opening up scoring lanes for Murphy and Andersen.
"I'm not a big shooter," Williams said. "I'm more of a defensive player and I like to run it up and down the field. It's easier for me to draw and [pass]."
Half Hollow Hills controlled the game for the first 10 minutes but only built a one-goal advantage before Floyd scored five straight goals to take a 6-2 lead. After the Colonials were issued their third yellow card with 5:01 left in the first half, the Thundercolts scored twice before halftime to make it 6-4.
Hills scored less than two minutes into the second half to cut the deficit to one but Floyd never let go of the lead despite being down a player for nearly 18 minutes.
"We didn't move the ball as quick as we could have downfield to get that man advantage," Half Hollow Hills coach Lori Horbach said.
After Hills was issued its third yellow card of the game with 12:08 remaining the teams played 10-on-10 and each scored four goals.
O'Shea had three goals and Alexis Maffucci had two goals and three assists for Hills (6-3).
Sarra Sounds Off Ep 36: Champs crowned in lax and flag football On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg talks with Michael Sicoli and Tess Ferguson about county champs crowned in boys and girls lacrosse, and Jared Valuzzi reports on the Long Island flag football championship.
Sarra Sounds Off Ep 36: Champs crowned in lax and flag football On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Gregg talks with Michael Sicoli and Tess Ferguson about county champs crowned in boys and girls lacrosse, and Jared Valuzzi reports on the Long Island flag football championship.
