Hailey Metzger's one-timer off a corner leads MacArthur girls soccer to Nassau Class A final

Hailey Metzger knew this was going to be the opportunity to make a play to send the MacArthur girls soccer team to the finals. She wasn’t exactly sure how it would come about, but she was going to do all she could to get in position for a goal.

Sara Kealey sent a corner kick into the 18-yard box midway through the second half that bounced around for a few seconds. Multiple players got their feet on the ball, but Metzger was there to one-time the game’s lone goal with 26:20 left in the second half as top-seeded MacArthur defeated No. 5 Plainedge, 1-0, in the Nassau Class A girls soccer semifinals at Cold Spring Harbor on Wednesday evening.

“There were so many people in the box, so I was just like ‘I see the goal, let me just kick it and hope for the best,’ ” Metzger said. “And it went in. It was amazing.”

MacArthur (12-0-2) advances to play the winner of No. 14 Long Beach/No. 2 Garden City in the Nassau Class A final at Cold Spring Harbor at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Plainedge finishes 6-7-2.

“This means everything,” Kealey said. “We’ve worked so hard for this and we earned it.”

The Generals never forgot the feeling of losing in the semifinals last season. Their goal all year was to not only get back to this game — but advance beyond it.

“Last year in the semifinals was rough for us and we knew all we needed was one goal and we got it,” Metzger said. “We all wanted it. On the bus ride, we were saying we were getting it. It was our game and it was.”

Lexie Thompson had seven saves behind a defense including Ava Angiuli, Hallie Bray, Caitlin Barry, Meghan Wetzel and Metzger as MacArthur has only allowed one goal all season.

“It’s exactly what we wanted and we’ve been pushing for this,” Angiuli said. “And it’s right there. Everything we’ve worked for all season is coming out.”

Coach Steve Costello credited the team’s success to a truly collaborative effort between the players and coaches.

“They are a very mentally tough group and they take an enormous role in what we do,” Costello said. “We co-coach with them and that’s me being generous to us as coaches. They give us a lot of feedback, lots of input and we take it because they are great competitors and it’s been a really fun trip with them together.”

Garden City advances

Garden City was dominating everything but the scoreboard in the first half. But in the second half, GC finished its opportunities.

No. 2 Garden City defeated No. 14 Long Beach, 5-0, in the Nassau Class A semifinals at Cold Spring Harbor Wednesday n ight. GC led 1-0 at halftime despite outshooting Long Beach, 17-2. But GC (13-2-2) scored four goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half. Long Beach finished 14-2.

Maya Costa had three assists, the first coming off a corner kick which Isabella Vona headed in with 5:48 left in the first half. Costa found Riley Donahue and Emily Romeo on the next two goals. Kathryn Monaco scored off an assist from Briana Ciccone and Elizabeth Gaffney added a goal.