Next year arrives for Cold Spring Harbor

Now the "We'll get 'em next year" promises can be packed away.

Cold Spring Harbor overcoming Manhasset, 1-0, Wednesday night to finally reach the Nassau Class B final was "something I've been waiting for," coach Danielle Skakandi said. "Something [the players] have been waiting for. Our alumni that took on Manhasset years back, they've been waiting for this."

And the Seahawks couldn't wait another second . . . literally. They were rewarded a penalty corner with no time remaining but forwent it, instead rushing the field to celebrate. Referees briefly attempted to have CSH run what would've been field hockey's version of a quarterback kneel, but the formality gave way to the team's felicity. "I thought the last two minutes were never gonna end," Seahawks goalie Taylor Striar said.

Courtney Burke scored off a feed from Victoria Kotowski with 57 seconds left in the first half and CSH cleared three late penalty corners and withstood heavy pressure to hold on for what might've been the biggest win in program history. The Seahawks (12-2-1), seeking their first county title, face Garden City at 2 p.m. Sunday at Adelphi.

"Sick," "overwhelming," and "absolutely amazing" were the adjectives Burke used to describe the goal.

The seeding says the win wasn't an upset -- with No. 2 beating No. 3. The Seahawks had edged Manhasset twice in one-goal games during the regular season. But against the team that had ended so many of its seasons en route to 12 of the last 14 county finals, Cold Spring Harbor was history's underdog.

So the celebration afterward: "We deserved it," Kotowski said. "We worked hard, coach had us completely prepared, and we brought it."