North Shore, Cold Spring Harbor in Nassau "C" Final

And so the stage is set…

North Shore will face Cold Spring Harbor in the Nassau Class C final at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Adelphi.

Amanda Johansen’s goal with 54 seconds left lifted North Shore over Seaford, 13-12, Thursday night in a semifinal. North Shore had rallied from down two in the final minutes.

Johansen had seven goals and two assists to lead No. 2 North Shore (13-3). Tess Korten and Micaela Dussel each added two goals and Alexis Greene made nine saves.

Emma Schait scored four goals, Amelia Taylor had three goals and an assist, and Ali Glazer scored twice for No. 3 Seaford (12-5). Diana Rice, who was superb in goal, made 12 saves – several of them on difficult shots.

Seaford had trailed for most of the game, but the Vikings surged in the second half and Taylor’s goal gave them a 12-10 lead with 5:05 remaining. She exploded from behind the right of the cage, blew by a defender and fired from about 5 yards out.

Dussel scored with 3:01 left to pull North Shore within a goal, and Johansen tied it on a free-position shot with 1:55 left.

Before the ensuing draw, Seaford was whistled for an infraction and possession was awarded to North Shore. Referees said a Seaford player attempted to call a timeout but the team was without one. (As you can imagine, the Seaford fans were not pleased.)

The Vikings were methodical in setting up a play on offense, eventually attacking with 1:08 remaining – but Seaford’s Diana Rice made a great save. North Shore, however, got the rebound and ran another play for Johansen. She darted in from the left, had room, and fired a low shot from about 3 yards in front of the goal.

North Shore won the last draw and its stall offense ran out the clock.

The county final matchup is one that was highly anticipated last season, actually. North Shore and Cold Spring Harbor had been favored to square off, but Locust Valley upset the Seahawks in the semifinals. North Shore went on to win the Nassau title. Cold Spring Harbor beat North Shore, 12-11, in the regular-season finale to capture the Conference IV title. It was the fourth straight game between the two to be decided by one goal –and the Seahawks have won the last three.

“We knew what we had to do. We had to spread out on offense and take smart shots. In the end, we executed it.”

Holly Logan had six goals and an assist, and Haley Crosson made 11 saves as top-seeded Cold Spring Harbor beat Locust Valley, 18-6, in the earlier semifinal at Adelphi.

The Seahawks took control early, led 9-3 at halftime, and maintained that pace in the second half. Kelly Anne Sherlock and Jillian Lee each added three goals for the Cold Spring Harbor (14-2), which last reached the final in 2010.

Bairre Reilly scored four goals and Cassandra Vnook made 10 saves for fourth-seeded Locust Valley (10-7), which had pulled a 13-12 double overtime upset of Cold Spring Harbor in last year’s semifinal.