Annelisa Milano, Lucia Alamia help Oceanside hang on to beat Jericho
Lucia Alamia #5 of Oceanside battles for the ball against Alexa Glovin #12 of Jericho during a Nassau girls lacrosse game on April 3, 2019 in Jericho. Credit: Anna Sergeeva
This wasn’t quite how the Oceanside girls lacrosse team drew it up — quite the opposite, actually.
After winning the first five draws of the game and scoring each time, Oceanside struggled from the draw circle. Host Jericho won 15 of the next 20 draws and cut into its first-half deficit, but Lucia Alamia’s three goals and four assists helped Oceanside hang on to win, 14-9, Wednesday in a Nassau Conference II clash in windy conditions.
Annelisa Milano had four goals and one assist, including goals that made the score 5-0 and 13-8, the latter of which came with 5:11 remaining.
“I think we stopped being as aggressive as we started out in the first half because we were up,” Milano said. “Once they started to catch up, we got our fire back and started pushing the ball more.”
Alamia scored three of the first four goals — she assisted the other by Lily Johnson — then Milano capped the early 5-0 run. Oceanside (4-0) closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, taking a 9-1 advantage into halftime.
Jericho (1-3) put the pressure on Oceanside, as Kristina Kallansrude — Jericho’s all-time leader in goals and assists — scored four times in the first 11 minutes of the second half, cutting the Sailors’ lead to 11-5.
Milano assisted Jamie Mecca for a 12-5 lead, but Jericho cut it to 12-8 when Daria Drew scored twice and Caitlin Chestler added a goal.
“We usually come out really, really strong,” Alamia said. “Sometimes, people let it get in their heads. But then we always pull through toward the end and come back really strong. I’m not worried. We did very well today.”
Scuffling to solve Kallansrude (six draw controls) in the circle, Oceanside managed to stay afloat by attacking 50-50 balls and creating more possessions. The Sailors had 22 ground balls, led by four apiece from Shannon DiDominica and Bella Klemm. Sarah McCabe and Megan Rugolo each had three.
This created opportunities for a versatile offense with several scoring threats. Even with talented junior Julia Schwasnick sidelined with an injury, Oceanside looked fluid on the attack. DiDominica and Mecca each scored twice.
“Even though we lost a couple of our players due to injuries, I think people started to step up more and become even more aggressive,” Milano said. “The ball’s really being spread. If you see the scores, it’s not just one person scoring or assisting.”
Although it’s back to the drawing board in the circle, the offense was illustrated as planned.
