Gandolfo scores twice as Calhoun wins
Kristina Gandolfo recognized a weakness in her opponent, and the Calhoun senior forward was going to exploit it.
"After learning how high they were playing, we just had to get the ball over the top," Gandolfo said of Farmingdale's defenders.
The Colts caught the Dalers' defense playing far upfield and capitalized. Gandolfo scored two goals, including the winner 1:13 into the first overtime, to lead No. 9 Calhoun (15-0-2) to a 2-1 victory over top-seeded Farmingdale (12-2-2) in a Nassau Class AA girls soccer quarterfinal Monday at Farmingdale.
"She's so natural at receiving the ball and finding the back of the net, and she does it every time for us," Calhoun coach Lori Biscardi said of Gandolfo, who beat a Farmingdale defender to a 50-50 ball and scored her county-leading 25th goal to win the game.
Farmingdale goalkeeper Kaitlin Gaghan and Calhoun's Alissa Battaglia made game-saving stops during the closing minutes of regulation. Gaghan, who made nine saves, came out to make a sliding stop against Kayla Cappuzzo inside the 18 in the 73rd minute. A minute later, Battaglia charged off her line to stop Kim Kolodny from shooting.
"My heart was definitely pounding, but every ball that got back to our half, I wanted it forward," said Battaglia, who made 13 saves. "If I had to get out of my 18 to get the ball forward, that's what I got to do."
Kolodny got a cross from Amanda Turturro and almost tied the score in the 56th minute, but her shot hit the left post. Turturro scored her 10th goal of the season, a blast from 30 yards that sailed over Battaglia to tie the score at 1 with 17:39 left in the second half.
The upset may be the biggest win in Calhoun history, and Biscardi is confident the Colts can play with anyone.
"Even though we're a Conference II team, we belonged in Conference I from the beginning. I told them that and they needed to know that and believe that," Biscardi said. "What [the win] says is that we should be winning these counties. We should be the county champions for the first time ever in Calhoun history."
