Wildcats advance to county finals

With the 2022 Suffolk County Class A girls soccer champions graduating most of their starting lineup, it appeared Shoreham-Wading River would be in rebuilding mode this fall to allow the younger players to get some experience. After the Wildcats lost to Sayville in the first week of the season, 4-1, repeating as champions wasn’t exactly on the radar. The four goals against was the most an Adrian Gilmore team had given up in her 10 years coaching the Wildcats.

“It was a gut check,” Gilmore said of that early loss. “We also were missing a handful of players that day because of SATs, and our starting goalkeeper, Morgan Lesiewicz, was on an official visit to Lehigh University for lacrosse.”

The game wasn’t supposed to be scheduled on Saturday that week, but because of the early September heat wave, the original game was postponed, conflicting with the prior commitments. 

Flash forward to Friday’s Class A semifinals, No. 2 Shoreham-Wading River (12-3-3) had a chance at redemption, and they seized it, defeating No. 3 Sayville 2-0 at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field to punch a ticket to the Section XI Class A championship. And Lesiewicz was right in the middle of it all.

After the Wildcats got goals on a bone-crushing Grace Hillis header off a corner delivered by Olivia Pesso, and a beautiful chip header by Mia Magano in the first half, the heat got cranked up on Lesiewicz. A team that previously scored four goals them certainly had the potential to get on the board at any given time. Sayville features some of the top scorers in the league in Rachel McAuliff (13 goals) and Mckenna Farrell (12).

“Most of the goals they scored on us were on set pieces,” Gilmore said of the previous matchup. “We watched the film and spent a lot of time in practice teaching the best ways to defend them.”

Sayville (13-4) unleashed 9 shots in the second half, many of which had to be saved by Lesiewicz. None were more important than a corner kick with 7 minutes to go in the game. As the ball curled in, it found an unmarked Sayville forward who headed it toward the net. There was almost no time or space for Lesiewicz to react but somehow she got her hands on it and knocked it away.

“I was definitely nervous before the kick,” the goalkeeper said. “I don’t know how I even saved it to be honest. It was all just a quick reaction. We practice defending corners all the time but it gets super intense in big games like this. I know everyone is relying on me and I think that’s the thing that pushes me the most. It’s my job to keep a zero on the board.”

“It was a hell of a save,” Gilmore said. “It shows her athleticism to be able to come up with that. She’s the voice back there. She works super hard. If that goal goes in that changes the whole complexion of the game.”

With Lesiewicz and Hillis helming the backline, Sayville couldn’t muster another real threat on goal the rest of the game. 

“Sayville was very strong offensively, we knew that coming into the game,” Hillis said. “We had to stay very focused and disciplined. I refused to let anything go past me. Everyone was doing the same. It shows how much we’ve grown as a team.”

With the victory, the Wildcats have a chance to make school history. The girls soccer team has had a lot of success over the years, but has never won back to back Suffolk County Championships. For the first time, Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field had been named as the neutral site for Wednesday’s championship game, giving the Wildcats a defacto home-field advantage. But their opponent, No. 1 seed Kings Park, objected — not unreasonably — and the game has been moved to Diamond in the Pines in Coram. SWR defeated Kings Park 2-0 earlier this year in the only league loss the No. 1 seed suffered all season.

“That game was probably the best game we’ve played during the season,” Gilmore said. “It’s a good feeling to know that we have beaten them. But we definitely have some work to do. We’re getting better every game, and now we have a chance at history.”