Dylan McNamara's overtime goal gives undefeated Sayville girls lacrosse win over Mt. Sinai
Unblemished and battle-tested.
The Sayville girls lacrosse team would have preferred to maintain their three-goal third-quarter advantage over Mount Sinai rather than play overtime, but the Golden Flashes have yet to be beaten for a reason.
Though Sayville lost the opening draw of overtime, it held steady on the defensive end – forcing a turnover and gaining one last possession in the final minute of the extra period. Freshman midfielder Dylan McNamara prevented a second overtime.
With possession behind and to the left of the net, McNamara darted a few yards upfield before halting, turning to her right and bouncing a shot into the top left corner of the goal with 5.5 seconds remaining in overtime. McNamara’s goal clinched a 9-8 win for visiting Sayville in Tuesday’s Suffolk Division II game.
“It was really cool,” McNamara said. “My team was definitely under pressure, but I feel like we handled it well and we got a goal out of it.”
McNamara had two goals for Sayville (9-0, 7-0 Suffolk II).
“She’s a fantastic player,” Sayville coach Gary Jensen said. “She deserves all the success that she gets. She works very, very hard for it, so I’m very proud of her.”
Sayville led 7-4 with 5:41 left in the third quarter. Mt. Sinai's Alexa Spallina found fellow attacker Camryn Chamberlain for two consecutive goals – one with 9.2 seconds left in the third and the other with 9:48 left in the fourth – to make it 7-6. Spallina, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 recruit in the class of 2025 and a Syracuse commit, added a third straight assist to attacker Sophia Masone as Mount Sinai (3-4, 3-4) tied it at 7 with 7:30 left in the fourth.
Midfielder Sophia Buffardi scored her third goal to give Sayville an 8-7 cushion with 5:44 left in regulation, but Mount Sinai midfielder Kayli Carannante answered with her second goal to tie it again with 2:24 remaining.
Neither team recorded a shot on goal in the final 2:24 of regulation.
“I thought we stayed mentally tough,” Jensen said. “We never let our highs get too high and our lows get too low, so I was very proud of their mental approach.”
Sayville picked up its third one-goal win of the season, the others coming against divisional foes Bayport-Blue Point and Eastport-South Manor.
“Like [Jensen] said, our mentality, [being] mentally tough,” McNamara said. “I think everyone in our league is really good. So everyone we play, we need to have that mindset. And I think it works because obviously we’re winning and the mentality’s working.”