Mills gives Sayville victory in strokes
Sayville M Olivia Cabral #7, takes the pass, and prepaes to score the first goal of the game against Rocky Point. (Nov. 8, 2011) Credit: George A. Faella
A year ago, Sayville walked off the Ward Melville field full of emotion; some of the players fought tears. Tuesday night, Sayville walked off the Ward Melville field full of emotion; some of the players fought tears.
But there was a championship plaque in tow this time.
Taylor Mills fired a low liner into the left corner to give top-seeded Sayville a 3-2 win over Rocky Point in the second round of penalty strokes.
That's right: Two overtimes and one round of strokes weren't enough to crown the Suffolk Class B field hockey champ.
"All I could think about was [Olivia Cabral] and all the other seniors who have worked so hard to get here," Mills, a junior, said. After getting the Golden Flashes their first county title since 2006, she was mobbed by teammates. "I had to put it away for them."
Before that, Sayville (18-0), a team unaccustomed to having its back to the ropes this season, was inches from defeat. Down 1-0 in strokes, Cabral fired a bullet into the right corner -- beating a diving Casey Heely, who was masterful -- to tie it.
"I've worked five years to get to this point and I couldn't let it slip away again," Cabral said. "I can't even describe this feeling."
Last season, Cabral said, the team was "hysterical." Then, too, they had entered with a perfect record, but lost, 6-2, to Shoreham-Wading River.
Gianna Minogue (11 saves) had five saves in strokes, including a lunging stop preceding Mills' opportunity. Heely made 12 saves, four in strokes, for No. 3 Rocky Point (14-5).
Rocky Point's Victoria Trapani tied it at 2 with 1:10 left in regulation. Cabral put Sayville ahead 5:06 in, then Alyssa Milano tied it. Julianna Fiorillo gave Sayville a 2-1 lead with 11:18 left.
"I've never done double strokes before and I was nervous," Minogue said. "But right now, I've never been this happy in my life."
