Wildcats clinch third straight county soccer crown

For the third year in a row, the Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer team has been crowned Suffolk County Class A champions, with a 1-0 victory Tuesday night over No. 4 Sayville at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field. Even with the players ever-changing over the years, the results have stayed the same — with the Wildcats prevailing.

“We’ve been lucky to keep our coaching staff together for so many years,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “Keeping that as a constant makes a huge difference. Each of us has a role to play to ensure all the pieces fit together. I think being able to teach these kids from middle school and even earlier, they buy into the system we’re selling and truly commit to growing.” After a back-and-forth first half, where Sayville put five shots on goal compared to just one for the Wildcats, a different Shoreham-Wading River side took the field following halftime, much like they have done all season. A cross in the box by Stamatia Almiroudis 48 minutes in nearly eluded the outstretched fingers of Sayville goalkeeper Olivia Moynihan but just got tipped away. Luckily for the Wildcats, Mia Mangano was there to drill the rebound into the back of the net.

“We knew we were up against one of the best goalkeepers in the county,” Gilmore said. “Our game plan was to attack the flanks. We saw that in the film when we played them last. The flanks were open. We wanted service from the outside and that’s exactly how we scored.”

Mangano had a bit of a coming out party this season after getting snubbed in the preseason on Newsday’s top 100 players list. She’s been scoring non-stop and the goal on Tuesday was her 17th of the season.

“In practice, if we’re not there for a rebound it’s 10 pushups,” Mangano said. “The cross looked to be heading to the goalpost and I knew I had to be there. The second I saw it bounce, I had to get a foot on it. All I have to say is I’m glad I don’t have to do those pushups.”

Though teammates have changed around them, there are several key players who have been the glue over the last three seasons, growing into veteran leaders after entering varsity at a young age. Johanna Ochsenfeld and Morgan Lesiewicz are both seniors now and have been a major part of the starting squad for years. Lesiewicz has been starting between the pipes since her eighth-grade season.

“I remember having coach Gilmore as my fifthgrade teacher and I wrote in my letter to my senior self that I wanted to be a county champion,” Ochsenfeld said. “To think that we’ve done it three years in a row, let alone three times, it’s crazy. We just love each other so much. Every year there’s new seniors and new freshmen and we just bring them in with open arms. They’re family. When we’re having fun it’s easy to produce a good outcome.”

When new girls are introduced to the roster, they can instantly get brought right into the nucleus. Three eighth-graders play on the back line alongside Ochsenfeld — not typically a recipe for success. But the Wildcats have only allowed three goals all season. It’s a testament to the work the girls have put in. Ella Nowaski, Tessa Cooke and Alexis Cordano don’t look like middle-schoolers out there, and that’s partially because of the leadership around them.

“I wouldn’t trade them for the world,” Lesiewicz said of the youngsters. “Even though I’m the big scary senior now, I totally understand what they feel. At one point that was me out there as an eighth-grader. I think my ability to relate so much to them allows me to have the confidence in them.”

The Wildcats cruised through the year with an undefeated regular season only to lose the league title on the final day in a 2-0 loss to Islip. Though Sayville knocked out the No. 1 seed in Islip, the Wildcats got the final say and will face the Nassau County Class A winners Sunday at 3 p.m. at Farmingdale College.

“We were on such a high winning every game,” Lesiewicz said. “We thought nobody could beat us. So having Islip come and knock us out of the league title at the end of the season was a wakeup call. We got exposed and proved that we had to work 10 times harder to get to where we want to be. We needed that loss. Now, we have to take care of business.”