Constantino's goal helps Islip girls tie Hauppauge
Islip High School #28 Paige Costantino, center, gets mobbed by teammates after scoring a goal to even the score at 1-1 with 20:34 remaining in the second half. (Oct. 28, 2010) Credit: James Escher
The lights toward the visitor's end at Hauppauge had gone out during intermission, causing a 20-minute delay and threatening a suspension of Islip's regular-season finale against the Eagles last night; a game that would decide second place in the Suffolk League V girls soccer standings and factor heavily in today's playoff seeding.
Naturally, there was angst on both sidelines. But a couple flickers, an anticipatory gasp from the crowd, then one bulb at a time the light was restored. And after the potential Thursday Night Plight was averted, it was Paige Constantino who shined in Islip's 1-1 double-overtime tie - a draw that was almost as good as victory for the Buccaneers (6-4-2), who maintained their position in the standings.
With Hauppauge up and carrying momentum, Constantino scored the equalizer. She took a quick cross from Chelsea Rosenthal 10 yards to the left of the net and drew goalkeeper Diana Poulin (11 saves) to her right before slicing a shot that drifted into the lower right post with 20:34 remaining.
"It was the greatest feeling in the world," said the midfielder, whose team has aspirations of the top seed in Class A. "I saw the ball coming across and was I was like, 'I have to do this for my team,' and that's what I did."
After a high-energy first half highlighted by Islip's aggressive offense and the Eagles' lights-out defense, Hauppauge struck first at 23:37 of the second half. Taylor Venturino, who scored the winner in the teams' previous meeting, sent a pass to Jennifer Porretto, who booted it in from point-blank range behind goalkeeper Tara Mackey (10 saves).
Hauppauge (5-4-3), in third place, needed the win more. The Eagles' fate will be determined at noon when the brackets are configured, coach Jesseca Kulesa said. They could wind playing a Class AA outbracket game three hours after the seedings are announced. The Eagles will also be without their best player, Stephanie Peragallo, who fractured her nose in a game last week and will be out six weeks after surgery.
"A tie is better than a loss for us," Islip coach Mike Reilly said. "We wanted to finish the season strong, but we did play well against a tough team."
