McPartland (4 goals) lifts Farmingdale

They are gum and you are the shoe -- for every step you take, they're stuck to you.

So it's been for the Farmingdale girls lacrosse team in regards to rival Massapequa. And Wednesday's game -- it's waning minutes notwithstanding -- was in keeping with that trend.

The Dalers won, 14-9, but pay little mind to that misleading final score. This one, for the Conference A-I title, was a tit-for-tat contest with seven ties and an outcome in question until late.

Farmingdale, the two-time defending state Class A champion, have been to six straight county finals. Massapequa, too. The Dalers breezed through their schedule and entered undefeated in league. Massapequa, too.

So this game . . .

"It was huge," said Kelly McPartland, who led Farmingdale with four goals. "One, they're our biggest rival. Two, we haven't had too many tough games and this was a challenge. They were right with us until the end."

Separation came from Colleen Reynolds. The midfielder's second goal put the Dalers up for good 9-8 with 11:23 remaining. She took a pass from Jamie Leone off the wing and fired in a line drive from six yards out.

SEE PHOTOSFarmingdale 14, Massapequa 9

"I crease rolled to the left and looked to see who I could find," Leone said. Reynolds playfully interjected: "And she saw my red hair."

Farmingdale tacked on five goals in the last five minutes and led 14-8 before Kelsey O'Brien (three goals) scored with three seconds left.

Amanda Turturro scored three goals, and Krislyn Engelke, and Kyra Ochwat each scored twice for the Dalers (7-0). Alex Gurecki made nine saves, including four point-blank stops midway through the second half when the game was close.

Danielle Doherty had three goals and an assist and Maddie Pimental two goals and an assist for Massapequa (6-1).

SEE PHOTOSNewsday's best high school photos

"Every season we seem to have a rallying point and this year it was when [Maegan Meritz] went down," Dalers coach Shari Campbell said, referring to the star midfielder tearing her right ACL on April 4. "Everyone has to raised their level."

Farmingdale scored first and the teams exchanged goals to 5-5. The Dalers went up, 7-5, but Doherty tied it with 17:06 left and O'Brien put the Chiefs ahead at 15:07. Ochwat's breakaway goal at 13:35, following a timeout, tied it at 8.

"It was frustrating and tiring," Reynolds said of the back-and-forth. "Coach reminded us to keep our cool . . . We came around and played to our potential."

The teams saw Wednesday's game as a playoff prelude, and Leone insisted, "We'll see them again."

At the usual rendezvous point, perhaps.