Leftovers: SWR vs. ESM Edition

/switching it up a little and going with Comic Sans font on this post

These are some of the things said that didn’t make the article following Shoreham-Wading River’s 8-7 double OT win over Eastport-South Manor on Wednesday.

Alexandra Fehmel scored three goals, including the winner with 6.9 seconds left in the second overtime.

Thoughts on the winning goal: “My team has helped me so much and I really wanted to do this, to give it all I had for my teammates… I was so happy, and kind of surprised. I did it!”

The game was back-and-forth. Were there any nerves? “We were a little nervous, but that’s when we’re at our strongest. We’re at our best when we need to pull it together in the last couple minutes of games. We know when we have to pick it up and really push it. We do a good job of that.”

SWR’s Shannon Rosati scored two goals.

On the win: “It was really exciting. Everyone was pumped up. We wanted this win badly and we pulled it off.”

Thoughts when Fehmel won it: “I was going crazy. It was awesome. This was a really important game for us and she came through for us.”

On the game being physical: “It’s something we realized. We want to be physical if the other team is physical; we want to match their intensity and be the better team.”

SWR’s Chelsea Delia

On the win: “It was a really intense game. We came in really fired up and kept that fire going.”

Rivalry with Eastport-South Manor: “It’s always a tough game with them. Last year it was really close in the first half – we were tied 6-6 - and we pulled away at the end [15-9]. They’re always a challenge and it’s always a pleasure to play against them.”

Delia is the goalie for the Suffolk Class B champion field hockey team but switches to attack for lacrosse: “It’s not that hard. Goalie is something I volunteered for in field hockey [after All-Long Islander Erin McMullan graduated]. I’ve always been a middy or attack so I’m more used to being on offense.”

From the perspective of a goalie, your take on ESM’s Samantha Giacolone (12 saves): “Sam is very good. I know her personally, from family, and she’s a nice person. And as a goalie, she can play. She’s good.”

Coach Mary Bergmann

On Fehmel’s winning goal: “I thought to myself, ‘They gave the person the free position because that’s Alex’s favorite spot.’ It just worked out perfectly. She was gonna get it in no matter what.”

On Fehmel wearing the helmet: “She’s an aggressive player so it helps… One of our other girls [Clare Blomberg] is going to be wearing one when she gets back from a concussion, so it might start a trend.”

How important was the win: “It was huge. We knew coming into the season that [Eastport] was going to be one of our biggest competitors. They always give us a good game. The fact that we went to double overtime, I don’t think we could ask for anything else.”

Performance of SWR goalie Lauren Daly: “She’s only an eighth-grader and she stepped up when we needed it. She came up with big saves in our last game [a 10-6 win over Huntington], which went overtime, too. She does well under pressure and in that situation, we could ask for a better person to be in goal.”

After Fehmel scored with 6.9 seconds left: “I was celebrating right when she scored and then I said, ‘Oh, man. Six seconds is a lot of time – I’ve seen some crazy games. They could score in six seconds, and they did get it down there. [ESM moved the ball quickly and got inside the 15 before time expired.]”

** A big shout-out to Kaitlyn Suarez of SWR, who is battling Hodgkin's lymphoma for a third time. She's not with the team now but is certainly in their thoughts as several Wildcats wear wristbands with her No. 7 printed. Our best wishes go out to Kaitlyn and her loved ones.