Sayville fights back to defeat ESM in girls lacrosse
Sayville attack McKenna Farrell moves towards the Eastport-South Manor net in a Suffolk Division II lacrosse game Monday at Eastport-South Manor. Credit: George A Faella
The Sayville girls lacrosse team could seemingly do no wrong in the opening 11 minutes against Eastport-South Manor on Monday. The Golden Flashes scored at will, played stout defense and if someone came through, the goalkeeper was there to halt it.
But Eastport-South Manor fought back, trimming a five-goal deficit to just two goals with three goals over seven minutes. But Sayville had one more answer before halftime that shifted the game as the Golden Flashes scored two goals over the final 30 seconds of the half to open up a four-goal lead in their 8-5 victory over host Eastport-South Manor in Suffolk Division II girls lacrosse play on Monday.
“It was huge,” said McKenna Farrell, who had two of her three assists during those final 30 seconds. “We started off strong and obviously teams are going to fight back. But we know how to come right back in and take the momentum.”
Farrell found Taylor Hoss for a goal with 29 seconds left in the first half and then assisted Anna Meserve with 5.4 seconds left to take a 7-3 lead into halftime. Five of Sayville’s eight goals came off assists as the Golden Flashes embrace ball movement and getting everyone involved on offense.
“No one’s selfish on this team,” Farrell said. “Everyone tries to support each other. I think sometimes people think goals are better than assists but on this team, the assists are so important.”
Meserve finished with three goals, Kelsey Restivo had two goals and Abby Galaris and Hoss each added a goal and an assist.
The Sayville defense played a tough game to limit Eastport-South Manor to just five goals in front of Julia Lillienthal’s eight saves.
“Our defense was on fire today,” said Olivia Redden, a senior defender. “I can not say one bad thing about it and our goalie, she’s a freshman, and she was killing it.”
Amanda Sweeney had three goals, Mia Forte had a goal and an assist and Ashley Langdon had nine saves, including multiple impressive stops at the cage, for Eastport-South Manor (8-7).
Sayville (14-2) enters the playoffs on an 11-game winning streak and figures to be in the thick of the mix in Class C – widely considered the toughest Classification on Long Island. With teams like Sayville, Bayport-Blue Point, Westhampton, Mount Sinai, Rocky Point, Shoreham-Wading River, whoever wins the Suffolk Class C title is certainly going to earn it. The Golden Flashes hope to be that team.
“The regular season ends but we’re on our way to the playoffs and that’s a whole new world,” assistant coach Mark Russell said. “Anyone can beat anybody in this division and we’re just going to have to be at our best to continue to go on.”
