Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer heads to Long Island finals after win over Kings Park

When the Suffolk County championship was suddenly moved from Shoreham-Wading River High School to Diamond in the Pines in Coram, there was certainly some questions of the move. The location was picked out before the season started and now that the Wildcats qualified for the championship, it was going to be moved?

Shoreham-Wading River head coach Adrian Gilmore was told that it was done to accommodate Kings Park as the boys soccer team would also play their final at Diamond in the Pines. But in reality, in her mind it was really something else.

“They didn’t want to play us at home,” Gilmore said. “I don’t want to say that they were scared but our stadium has everything — great sound system, beautiful field, plenty of seating. It’s a perfect venue for a championship. There were two ways to approach the situation: kick your heels in the sand and fight and make it a distraction, or do what we did.”

Assistant coach Brian Ferguson, furious with the decision, decided to get a shirt made to fire up the girls. It said: “Any time, any place.”

Ferguson whipped out that shirt Wednesday at halftime in the Suffolk County Class A championship against No. 1 seed Kings Park (14-3-1) and it sparked the team going into the second half after playing to a 0-0 tie the first 40 minutes.

After Mia Mangano was fouled some 40 yards away from the net, three minutes into the second half, Grace Hillis stepped up to the ball with her eyes set on goal. The Wildcats were working on set pieces all week but this shot would involve no teammates.

“When she wound up and took that kick I just knew it was going in,” Gilmore said. “You know you just get that feeling. It was truly amazing.”

The strike was smashed so fiercely, the goalie barely had any time to react as it found the upper right hand side of the netting to take the lead 1-0. 

“It was a great feeling,” Hillis said. “I have been working on that shot all season. I just knew it had to go in. It was the best feeling watching the ball hit the back of the net.”

Hillis later scored on a penalty kick to seal the deal for the Wildcats and send them into the Class A Long Island final with a 2-0 victory over Kings Park.

“To have two goals in the Suffolk County championship is something she will remember forever,” Gilmore said. “For her to come up from her defensive midfield position and score two goals shows what kind of an athlete she is.”

“I just blocked out everyone and everything around me at that moment,” Hillis said of the crucial penalty. “I just focused on me and the goalie. I’ve done it a million times and I just had to slow myself down.”

The win marks the first time in history the Wildcats’ girls soccer team won back to back Suffolk County championships. The only time Shoreham-Wading River won the Long Island championship was in 2019. That team ended up winning the state title.

“I see a lot of similarities between the two teams,” Gilmore said, who’s been coaching the Wildcats for 10 years. “Both of these teams refused to lose. My 2019 team was wild. They’d be complaining with the referee on one end on a no-foul call and then full sprint to the other end and win the ball back. When you have that hunger to win, nothing gets in your way.”

Shoreham-Wading River (13-3-3) will take on the Nassau County champion, Plainedge on Saturday at 11am. This time the game will actually take place at Shoreham-Wading River high school.

“We know we aren’t done yet,” Hillis said. “Yes we can enjoy the win tonight but we are back to work tomorrow and there is plenty to be worked on.”

“We have 48 hours to prepare,” Gilmore said. “We’re going to give them the best we got.”