Massapequa Girls Soccer Topples Oceanside for County Title

The girls soccer team has reached the top of Nassau County soccer, with an impressive win over Oceanside in the Nassau Class AA championship on Wednesday night at the Denton Avenue Field.  

The top-seeded Chiefs (16-0-1) ousted the tenth-seeded Sailors (9-5-2), 2-0, behind a pair of first half goals from sophomore Rosie DiMartino.  

“I thought we played really well the first half, controlling the ball and created four or five good chances,” Massapequa coach Bruce Stegner said. “We stepped it up from an intensity standpoint with the 50-50 balls in the middle. I was really happy with that. We knocked the ball around nicely, good possession and showed our skill in this game.”  

Massapequa dominated possession in the first half against Oceanside, holding the Sailors without a shot up until the 54th minute of the game. But at that point Oceanside was alreadybehind.  DiMartino took a cross from freshman Taylor Kugler to put the Chiefs ahead in the 34th minute.  

Kugler was tripped in the box shortly after the first goal, setting up a penalty kick for DiMartino. The sophomore put the kick in the top left corner to give Massapequa two goals in just a one minute and 18 second span. Oceanside created a number of opportunities in the second half but ultimately came up empty as their playoff dream run came to a close.    

“Our team just came out strong, really wanting to win. I just finished those opportunities and worked really hard,” DiMartino said.  

The Chiefs outshot the Sailors by a 16-3 margin, largely in part because of a solid defensive effort from senior Jamie Strumwasser and company.  

“I think we worked really hard in the end when we got the ball down and possessed,” Strumwasser said. “Defense worked really hard in the back. We just wanted to stay composed and organized to make sure there were no gaps.”  

Oceanside, as the tenth seed, took down seventh-seeded Syosset followed by a pair of upset victories over second-seeded Mepham and third-seeded MacArthur to reach the finals.  

“We set our goals as far as how far we wanted to go and they knew they were going to be back on this field for the finals tonight,” Oceanside head coach Marianna Winchester said. “They knew they were able to beat any team they faced now, but unfortunately we just came up short.”  

Massapequa is a team filled with talent that enables them to go far in the playoffs year after year. Many seniors have committed to college programs for next year. Taylor Elliot will play at Vanderbilt, Shannon Garrity will play at Manhattan College, Amanda Reverberi will play at Loyola Maryland, Stephanie Nelle will play at Albany, and Strumwasser will play at Marist.  

Massapequa  will take on Smithtown East, the Suffolk County Champions, for the Long Island Class AA title on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Dowling College.  

“I don’t know much about the team, but we will come prepared and we are looking for revenge because we haven’t beaten Suffolk County in the last three or four years,” Stegner said.