Sullivan leads Garden City to 'B' title

She wins county titles in every sport she participates in. She plays extraordinary defense against extraordinary players. She doesn't always score in bunches, but when she does, it's always in big games. Hey, that's Barbara Sullivan.

Her lockdown defense, as well as two goals and two assists, helped lead Garden City to a 15-10 win over rival Manhasset Wednesday in the Nassau Class B final.

"That's what Barbara does," Trojans coach Diane Chapman said of her defender/midfielder. "To play defense like that and run down the other end and do something, it shows how incredible an athlete she is."

Garden City (18-0) dominated early and withstood a charge from No. 3 Manhasset to capture a seventh straight county crown. The Trojans will face the winner of Thursday's Shoreham-Wading River-Hauppauge game in the Long Island championship / Southeast Regional final on Saturday.

"It gets better every time," Alexandra Bruno said, reciting what's become a refrain for the Trojans when asked if winning becomes routine.

Bruno scored five goals to pace top-seeded Garden City. Catherine McTiernan added three, and Caroline Tarzian and Catherine Dickinson each had two goals and two assists. Kelly Weis made 11 saves.

McTiernan scored 16 seconds into the contest, taking a short pass from Sullivan and slipping a bouncer by the goalie to give the Trojans a lead they didn't relinquish.

SEE PHOTOSNassau 'B' final: Garden City 15, Manhasset 10

Sullivan assisted on Bruno's goal at 19:03 that made it 4-1, and then scored Garden City's sixth and seventh. Sullivan also held Halle Majorana, the Indians' All-American attack, to two goals -- both in the final six minutes.

"We got passive," Sullivan said of Manhasset's rally from a 9-1 halftime deficit. "We thought we were up by a lot and got comfortable, which is wrong."

Manhasset (14-5) opened the second half with a two-minute flurry. Scores by Charlotte Avallone, Kerri Fleishhacker (two goals) and Julia Glynn (two goals) got them back into it. But Garden City answered with a 4-0 run and Dickinson's goal with 14:03 remaining made it 13-4.

"Our goal is a state championship each year and this is another step," said Sullivan, who led the soccer team to a state title in the fall, the basketball team to a Long Island championship in the winter and, is now after a fourth lacrosse state title. "That's always been my goal. I didn't know it would happen in one year, but to have it happen as a senior is special."