“I had to put aside my ego for an opportunity to grow the program,” Mandery said. “Here, we’re able to work on things in practice and actually implement them into the game. It’s hard to get better when you’re losing by multiple goals every game.”

Mandery’s decision is paying off.

Riverhead defeated Hampton Bays, 3-2 on Monday afternoon at Hampton Bays High School to improve their developmental league record to 4-1.

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COPYRIGHT BILL LANDON Sophomore Katherine Gonzalez (left) celebrates her goal with teammates. (Credit: Bill Landon) Riverhead goalie Sky Hervan makes a save. (Credit: Bill Landon) Riverhead’s Brianna Banegas battles for the ball. (Credit: Bill Landon) Riverhead senior forward Ellie Cammarota crosses the ball. (Credit: Bill Landon) Senior midfielder Evelyn Velasquez fires upfield for the Blue Waves. (Credit: Bill Landon) Freshman Maggie Morgan fights for possession. (Credit: Bill Landon)

Katherine Gonzalez opened the scoring before Ellie Cammarota scored twice to seal the game for the Blue Waves. 

The three goals matched Riverhead’s entire total for last season. 

“Division I was really hard for us,” Cammarota said. “We had to face girls that have been playing together since they were kids and play travel soccer and everything. To us, we’re all still learning the game, our teammates and everything, so this league is a great place to do that.”

The developmental league was created for teams that may need more time work on their basic skills before competing in more rigorous, multi-classification leagues.

These teams are not eligible for the standard Section XI playoffs but will rather have just a league winner. It is a two-year commitment for any school that decides to register.

A major measuring stick that the team has improved was their non-division matchup against Southampton this season. Riverhead took a 1-0 lead into the first half before being clipped 2-1. Last year, the Blue Waves were routed 5-1.

“Being in this league is definitely helping us get better,” central defender Kelly Lopez said. “We didn’t enjoy the season last year at all. Every game, we lost by a lot, and it’s hard to want to get better and work on things because every game feels the same. We’re blaming one another instead of trying to get better.”

The size of Riverhead’s girls soccer program has grown over the past few years. Riverhead is able to have a varsity and junior varsity team as well as two middle school teams.

“This is another reason why we’re in the developmental league,” Mandery said. “We’re starting to get more and more interest, and I want our core to be strong once we get back to playing in our actual division. My daughter is in the school district and by the time she gets up here, I want us to be at our best. If that means to sacrifice a few years playing at this level so be it. The fact of the matter is, we have to catch up. It’s hard to do that when you don’t have a chance in every game you play.”

Though it is a two-year commitment to be in the developmental league, Mandery hasn’t completely shut off the idea of staying longer.

“Every year we’re going to have to reassess,” Mandery said. “I know we have tremendous athletes out here on the east end. We just need time to get them coached up to the level these other kids out west are. It’s just a matter of time, but I believe in our girls. I know we have what it takes. They’re working so hard to improve, and I believe the future is super bright for those underclassmen on the team now.”

Riverhead returns to action Wednesday, Oct. 1, at East Hampton — the only team in their division that’s beaten them this year.

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For the last 13 years, Adrian Gilmore was a compelling fixture on the sidelines for the Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer team. The beloved coach, who impacted every girl that ever stepped foot in the program, won multiple Suffolk County and Long Island championships and one New York State title. She built the soccer program from the ground up to one of the most elite and feared teams on Long Island. Her passion and intensity for the game she loved bled through every minute she spent with the girls.

And for the first home game in a very long time, Gilmore was only there in spirit. A sign with her picture, honoring her memory, was displayed along the fenceline.

On April 22, while coaching lacrosse, Gilmore, 42, suffered a medical emergency and later died, leaving the Wildcat community grieving. 

“We all were in shock,” SWR assistant coach Brian Ferguson said, who coached alongside Gilmore since 2016. “It took me a very long time to process what happened. She was one of my closest friends. I still haven’t come to terms with it but being on the field again brings a sense of normalcy to my life and it’s what she would’ve wanted me to do. That’s why I decided to come back and continue to coach. I want to keep building what she left behind.”

A month earlier, Lydia Kessel, a former SWR goalkeeper under Gilmore, who went on to star at the University of Vermont, was at the high school preparing a presentation for a job opening and ran into Ferguson by chance. 

“I instantly texted Adrian,” Ferguson said. “I wrote, ‘You wouldn’t believe who I just ran into at the school.’ She instantly texted me back with ‘Who’ with a million exclamation marks. When I told her it was Lydia, we both started brainstorming and thought she’d be a perfect candidate for JV coach.”

“I couldn’t say no,” Kessel said, with a tear rushing down her face. “I never could say no. Adrian was the type of coach you would do anything for. I accepted.”

With Gilmore’s unexpected passing, Kessel was asked to take over the program to continue to honor her legacy. It’s a position she doesn’t take lightly.

“I just want to make her proud,” Kessel said. “She was a major influence on my life, starting as a little freshman. She taught me not only how to be a great athlete but also a great teammate and person. I want to continue her legacy here. She is Shoreham-Wading River soccer.”

A week into preseason camp this season, Ferguson opened up his facebook and a memory came across his screen. It was an article of Lydia making the game-winning save at the University of Vermont, and Gilmore had tagged him in it and said, “’That’s our girl!’ To me that was like her way of saying that she’s watching,” Ferguson said. “Shoreham-Wading River Soccer was always about being a family. That’s what she always placed the biggest emphasis on. And Lydia taking over the program is like keeping it in the family.”

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Junior mid-fielder Shealyn Varbaro scores for the Wildcats.(Credit: Bill Landon) First year head coach Lydia Kessel looks on. (Credit: Bill Landon) Shealyn Varbero fires at the net. (Credit: Bill Landon) Shoreham-Wading River senior Mia Mangano pushes up-field. (Credit: Bill Landon) Shoreham-Wading River senior Mia Mangano shoots. (Credit: Bill Landon)

With Gilmore’s brother and father in the stands for the home opener, the Wildcats, who debuted new jerseys featuring a memorial patch of Gilmore, blanked Miller Place, 4-0. Shoreham-Wading River got goals from Olivia Pesso, Shaelyn Varbero, Cali Greco and Mia Mangano.

“We’re playing for Coach Gilmore this season,” Mangano, a senior striker and captain, said. “It’s bigger than just a game for us. It’s everything. She always wanted us to leave everything on the field each game we played, and that’s the mentality we’re going to continue to bring the rest of the season. The sky is the limit for this group. We want to make it back to the states.”

Shoreham-Wading River went to back-to-back New York State final fours the past two seasons under Gilmore’s leadership. They have the talent to do it again. Gilmore will just have to be cheering from up above — following the journey of the girls she taught, coached and mentored.

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The Wildcats had their chances and even outplayed Pittsford Mendon for most of the game. Aside from two defensive blunders, Shoreham-Wading River was the better team on the field and it was evident from the opening minutes.

Stamatia Almiroudis scored the game’s opening goal for SWR off of an assist from Shealyn Varbero with 17 minutes left in the first half. The Wildcats dominated the early going, not even allowing Pittsford Mendon to get a shot on goal in the first half. They controlled possession and even had multiple chances to increase their lead.

But a quick second half goal spurred life into Pittsford Mendon, tying the game with just one minute erased off the clock. From that moment on, the game changed. Pittsford Mendon took all of the momentum and ended up scoring the go-ahead goal with 14 minutes left.

There was a clear handball in the penalty box by a Pittsford Mendon defender with the game tied 1-1 that could’ve given the Wildcats a chance to take the lead, but the infraction was missed by the refs.

Despite the defeat, what the Wildcats have accomplished these past three years has been remarkable. Three straight Suffolk County Class A championships and two appearances in the state tournament with an ever-rotating lineup is no small feat. 

“I told them after the game that most high school athletes never step on a county championship field,” head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “And we’ve been to the states two years in a row. It’s just a testament of the work these girls continue to put in.”

As is the case every year, key players depart in the senior class, leaving behind a strong legacy that will stick with the school for the rest of history. Morgan Lesiewicz is one of those seniors this year. She played her final game as a goalkeeper for the Wildcats after holding the position since 8th grade.

“Playing on this team for five years didn’t just build me as a soccer player and an athlete, it built me as a person,” Lesiewicz said. “Having coaches here everyday that encourage you and build you up, help you fix things means everything. This isn’t even my main sport but being part of this is something I’ll never forget.”

The senior class this year has been through what perhaps has been one of the winningest stretches in SWR girls soccer history. It was Lesiewicz coming up with big saves. It was Chloe Bergen, Johanna Ochsenfeld or Jocelyn Nastasi showing leadership on the back line. It was Ava Gengler being the team’s workhorse up front. 

But just as any year the team will need to regroup. After losing All-State do-it-all player Grace Hillis last year, to return to the states this season seemed like a stretch but they did it. Every year key pieces leave and others step up, it’s just the nature of Shoreham-Wading River’s girls soccer program.

“We have seven starters returning next year,” Gilmore said. “We’re losing a bunch of key players but I’m confident in those that maybe haven’t gotten to play as much this year and have gotten a taste of what it feels like to make it to states, they’ll step up and deliver for us. I’m so proud of what these girls accomplished this year. A play or two different, we could have been state champions.”

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For the second year in a row, the Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer team has punched its ticket into the New York State Class A final four in Cortland next weekend with a 2-0 victory over Wantagh on Sunday at Farmingdale State College.

Wantagh, which won its first ever Nassau County girls soccer crown coming into the Long Island championship, was simply outclassed by a team that’s been there before. There were no nerves in the veins of SWR, at least none that could be seen on the field as the team came out strong and everybody up and down the lineup made an impact.

“It really started with a strong first half which we’ve been missing in the last few games,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “Even though we didn’t score early in the first half, we set the tone of the game right away. It was the most complete game we played as a team all year long.”

Whether it was Stamatia Almiroudis pressuring the Wantagh defense into mistakes, Chloe Bergen being a rock in the middle of the field or Olivia Pesso taking control of an uneasy situation, when someone needed to step up and do their job, they did it and did it well.

“We’ve been here before,” Pesso said. “We know what it takes to win this game. We’ve worked so hard to get to this point and this is not the place to let up. We knew we had to come in with our best to win and I’m super excited to keep this journey going into Cortland.”

Before Mia Mangano finally had her breakthrough goal with 19 minutes remaining in the first half  – a shot that she ripped from outside the box, crossing the whole goal and finding the upper corner  – Mangano had a bunch of near-misses. 

Midway through the first half, the ball was passed up ahead to Mangano who instantly sprinted forward, getting past one defender with the goalkeeper starting to charge. A swift-thinking Mangano took a little touch and got behind the goalkeeper only to realize the touch was too strong as it rolled past the endline. Early in the second half, on a shot similar to how she scored, was tipped away by a fully extended Wantagh goalkeeper.

“I was getting frustrated for sure,” Mangano said. “But Ava (Gengler) kept telling me to ‘keep going. It’s going to go in. Keep shooting.’ The encouragement really meant a lot, especially coming from a senior.”

It was only right that Gengler ended up with the assist on the first goal of the game. But 1-0 is rarely enough – especially in a game with this high of stakes. And Wantagh definitely had their chances to score, no more than the free kick from just outside the box after a Wildcat handball with 22 minutes left in the game. The shot was turned away by Morgan Lesiewicz who only needed to make two saves on the day with her defense being so stout ahead of her. 

Pesso was all over the pitch, assisting on offense or making a play on defense, often chasing attackers down from behind and stealing the ball.

“I think this was one of the best games I’ve ever seen Olivia play,” Gilmore said. “She was all over the place. She was calm and secure with the ball and really did everything we asked of her.”

Pesso had the ball at her feet down the left flank near the box and did a cutback move so quick and vicious, she left her opponent on skates. After gathering herself, she rolled the ball over to the middle and absolutely left it on a platter for Shealyn Varbero who stuffed it into the back of the net.

That was the final dagger. Though there were still nine minutes on the clock, Wantagh looked dejected. All the energy was sucked out of them by a team that has been there before  – a team that still thinks about losing in the state final last year. They’ll get their chance at redemption this weekend.

The state semifinal game will be played at Cortland High School on Saturday at 9:30am against Section V Pittsford Mendon High School. Should they win, the finals would be at 10 am Sunday at SUNY Cortland.

“We’re ready to lock in and fix any weaknesses we may have,” Pesso said. “We’re ready for the big stage. Maybe we felt a little lost last year in Cortland but we know what to expect this year. We’re in this together as a family and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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“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.”

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“We look so good,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “After the first game of the preseason Coach Ferguson and I, and we’ve been coaching together a very long time, we always call each other on the way home. After the first game we didn’t even wait for that phone call, we stayed at the field for 45 minutes after the game with smiles on our faces about how good we looked. The returning girls looked so good and so did the younger kids coming up.”

Photos by Bill Landon

The coaches see part of the keys to success to be how to replace the heart and soul of last year’s team in Grace Hillis. The All-State midfielder did it all for the Wildcats, scoring crucial goals when they mattered most and also trekked back to play a suffocating defense, refusing to let anyone pass easily. Hillis will suit up for Division I Old Dominion University this fall, and the Wildcats will surely miss her contributions. 

“Grace is one of those players that is like once in a lifetime,” Gilmore said. “We’re not going to be able to replace her. We’re going to have to switch some things and play a little differently this year. We hope to be more offensive.”

Ava Gengler, who was supposed to be a major part of last year’s team, ended up tearing her ACL and missed the entire campaign. A pure goal-scorer at heart, Gengler will be a focal point in her final season as a Wildcat. She already scored a hat-trick in one of the summer games. She’s picked up right where she left off.

“Ava was our missing piece to winning the state championship last year,” Gilmore said. “She’s a phenomenal player. She has great vision and controls the pace very well. With her back in the mix, we’re looking to score more goals this year. The goals that Grace scored I’m sure Ava will tally those up for us.”

Between Gengler and Olivia Pesso, who came on the soccer scene last year after spending the majority of her fall seasons being a part of the cross country team, the middle of the pitch will be a dangerous spot for any team that comes up against the Wildcats. Pesso drew praise all season long from coaches all over the league after she seemingly came out of nowhere.

“Liv has got a nasty shot and we’re trying to get her to trust in herself more,” Gilmore said. “For whatever reason it just seems like she holds back a little bit. Last year was her first year playing school soccer so she’s still getting used to everyone and the system. We expect a lot more goal scoring from her this year.”

Mia Mangano will also be a major part of the offensive mix after scoring 11 goals and assisting on six others last year.

Through the summer, Gilmore only fields one team, combining varsity and junior varsity players. She even brings up a few select eighth graders that she feels will benefit from playing against varsity competition. This allows her to figure out who should come up to varsity and who should stay in JV.

“We have such a strong soccer talent pool always coming through our system so I like to take a look at the program from top to bottom,” Gilmore said. “Some of these  eighth graders are playing amazing right now, and you can’t even tell that they’re so young.”

There’s only one spot that seems to be open for the taking, and Gilmore is rotating players to try to fill it. Whether it be a more experienced player or someone new coming up, there is plenty to choose from. Twenty-six players are on the roster during the summer and each of them get significant playing time.

One position that isn’t up for grabs is goalkeeper. Morgan Lesiewicz has been a rock at the back of the varsity defense since  eighth grade. More often than not, she was able to stop oncoming attacks, even at point blank range. She was a major piece of last year’s success and now she’s entering her senior season.

“She’s been in goal for us for so long and she’s a terrific player and leader for us,” Gilmore said. “She’s definitely the glue to keep everyone together with her communication and how hard she works.”

Shoreham-Wading River will begin their season with two non-league games against Commack and West Islip the first week of September. They are both figured to be top teams in the higher divisions heading into the season.

“We want to schedule the toughest opponents from the start,” Gilmore said. “It shows us what we got and it’s a good way to gauge what we need to do coming into our league season. If we’re able to beat these larger schools, that says a lot about our program here.”

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The postseason started as a revenge tour. The Wildcats matched up against Center Moriches in the first round of the playoffs and, after battling to a tie in the regular season, they knocked out the Red Devils, 2-0. Then came Sayville — the team that delivered a shocking 4-1 blow to the Wildcats early in the season — and they, too, got knocked out, 2-0. Kings Park — the seeding committee’s unanimous No. 1 seed in Suffolk County’s Class A — was next, for the county championship. Surely the 2-0 victory the Wildcats earned during the season was a fluke. Well it wasn’t; SWR beat them again, 2-0.

Being Suffolk County champions wasn’t enough for this group, though. They went on to beat Plainedge, 2-0, for the Long Island championship. This was a group of Wildcats that lost eight starters from last year’s Suffolk County championship team. They were young, but they were hungry. This team had heart, grit, determination; pick any championship-caliber trait, they had it.

Shoreham-Wading River (15-4-3) went to the state Final Four in Cortland, N.Y., representing Long Island. After defeating New Hartford in the semifinal, they were left with one last game to be crowned state champions for the second time in school history. Section I’s Rye was the only team that stood in the way of finishing on top.

The final game, however, just didn’t go their way. Rye was simply the better team on Sunday afternoon at Cortland High School. Rye held up the gold medals after winning 2-0 and the Wildcats looked on, tears streaming down a lot of faces. But it doesn’t take away from what Shoreham-Wading River accomplished this season.

They were apparently “rebuilding” from last year. Nobody thought they would contend for the Suffolk County championship again. But they did — and even took it a step further.

“I think after graduating so many players last year we didn’t know exactly what we had here this year,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “We knew we had a good team but we didn’t know how special this group was until they started clicking in practice and the games. And then we just got hot in the playoffs, to the point that we didn’t even allow a goal until today.

“They were a very motivated group and eager to learn,” Gilmore continued. “When you’re trying to accomplish a goal with 30 kids, everyone’s gotta be on the same page. They bought into what we were selling as coaches and our system. Everyone played their part. And I think as long as everyone gives 110% and they do their job, good things happen. And they believed us and that’s what got us here.”

Senior midfielder Grace Hillis was the catalyst all season long. The Old Dominion University commit put the team on her back in the playoffs. Of the nine goals the Wildcats scored, Hillis netted five and assisted on two others — not to mention how many she saved being the defensive stalwart on the team. She was simply out for glory every single game.

“We gave everything we had until the final minute of the season,” Hillis said. “I’m so proud of what we accomplished this season. We worked so hard and we just came up short in the end. Rye was a great team. We just didn’t have it today.”

Rye also happened to be the fresher team coming into the final. They played their semifinal first and were able to rest up for the championship. Shoreham-Wading River, however, got off the field at 8 p.m. Saturday for a noon start on Sunday.

“You can tell we had tired legs at the end there,” Gilmore said. “We made a couple silly errors because of it and Rye capitalized.”

This group of seniors will undoubtedly leave a mark behind for the next class and beyond. Between Hillis, Bella Sweet, Maya Beyersdofer, Mia Gengler and Naomi Harris, the younger girls learned how to lead by example and one can only expect Shoreham-Wading River to be back in full force next year. The Wildcats will simply reload; rebuilding isn’t really in their vocabulary.

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That delay ended up being a godsend.  

“The nerves were definitely there,” senior captain Grace Hillis said. “We all had anxiety on the bus ride over.”

The Wildcats spent the hour in the locker room, blasting music, dancing, singing and enjoying themselves.

“We grew closer as a team in that hour,” sophomore forward Mia Mangano said. “We just let loose and we were screaming different songs. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

Following a deadlock for the first 28 minutes of the game, playing in blistering temperatures, Shoreham-Wading River (15-3-3) finally broke through when Mangano crossed the ball into the box and found Hillis who buried the volley in the back of the net. The goal was Hillis’ fifth of the postseason in as many games and the only goal the Wildcats needed to advance to the New York State Class A final. The 1-0 victory over New Hartford Saturday night at Cortland High School was the Wildcats’ fifth straight shutout in the playoffs.

“We knew we were going to win this game from the outside,” Hillis said. “That was our game plan from the start. As soon as I saw Mia dribbling the ball into the corner, I quickly jetted inside the box. I knew she would place it.”

“She’s got a nose for the ball,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “There’s no ball she can’t get to. She’s really unbelievable. Ever since she was in 9th grade and transferred into our district from Riverhead, I knew she was something special.”

Scoring first is something Coach Gilmore has emphasized all season long. Because once the Wildcats are ahead, good luck trying to get the ball back. The ball rarely even comes into the Wildcat side when they’re in control. Mia Gengler, Bella Sweet, Olivia Pesso and Grace Hillis all have a defensive mindset but have the ability to move forward and hold possession at will. Even if they happen to lose the ball, the ability of these midfielders to track back and win the ball is uncanny.

Gengler and Hillis started the season in the center back position but have since moved up the field, leaving Naomi Harris and Maya Beyersdofer to man the middle. The duo, along with the wing play of Johanna Ochsenfeld and Chloe Bergen, make as solid a line as they’ve had all season. Whatever doesn’t get cleaned up the middle and happens to bounce outside, Ochsenfeld and Bergen are there to launch the ball back the other way. And if, by chance, the ball gets through that, the Wildcats have one of the most athletic goalies in the state in three-year starter Morgan Lesiewicz. New Hartford, in a state semifinal no less, didn’t even put together a true shot on goal. Most of the game was played in the midfield. 

“We knew what to expect coming into the game,” Gilmore said. “Even though we never played them, we watched a lot of tape. Their formation is very similar to Plainedge who we played in the Long Island championship. We kept talking about spreading our wings and keeping the pressure level high. Our defense has been stellar all year. We’ve only let in a handful of goals. And everyone knows their job and they do it well.”

Shoreham-Wading River will have a chance to win their second state title in school history on Sunday against Section I’s Rye at 12. Rye defeated Lewiston-Porter, 3-0 in the semifinals. 

“We watched their whole game in the freezing cold,” Gilmore said. “So we do have a sense of what they do and how they play. We’re going to watch more film tonight. Our jobs as coaches is to prepare the team the best we can. We’re going to settle into the hotel tonight, get as much information we can and hopefully we leave as state champions.”

Warm up that locker room, Cortland High School. Concert series part two incoming. 

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This core group, along with the talented players around them, outpaced last year’s effort and brought home the program’s first Class A Long Island Championship since 2019. With a 2-0 victory over Nassau County champion Plainedge (13-3-3) on Saturday at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field, the Wildcats have punched their ticket into the Class A New York State final four.

Just 15 minutes into the game, SWR (14-3-3) struck first on a beautiful, curling corner kick delivered by Olivia Pesso which landed right in front of Hillis who buried the opportunity and put the Wildcats ahead, 1-0. Hillis has been involved in the scoring column for much of the postseason and a lot of them have come off set pieces.

“I just follow the ball and the ball only,” Hillis said of her prowess in getting to every ball in the box. “Pesso is very precise with her crosses. She knows exactly where I am and she can place it exactly where I want to be.”

As the games get tougher, Hillis only gets more impressive, leaving her mark in every match she plays. After scoring seven goals during the regular season, Hillis has scored four times already in the playoffs.

“I think as the season has gone on, we’ve grown so much as a team, especially defensively,” said Hillis, who plays defensive midfielder for the Wildcats. “I am able to get higher up the field now and help support the attack without having to worry about getting back in time to help the defense.”

“We were definitely very experienced and talented last year,” SWR head coach Adrian Gilmore said. “But this year I’d say there’s more hunger to the group. Even though a lot of the younger girls didn’t start last year, they were on the team and felt that loss in the Long Island championship last year. And it certainly helps having someone who I feel has emerged as the best player in the state in Grace Hillis.”

It should be no surprise that Hillis, who will play for Old Dominion University next year, was involved in the second goal of the game as well. With 17 minutes remaining in the first half, Hillis, on a free kick from around 40 yards out, sent in a ball that created absolute chaos in the box. Players collided with the Plainedge goalkeeper, leaving a bunch of bodies on the turf and Sweet emerged on the end of the pass to score her first goal of the playoffs.

“It was very crazy and I didn’t even realize what was happening in the moment,” Sweet said. “I just threw my body on the line. I got hit in my stomach by the goalie and kicked by the defender but Grace placed the ball perfectly right on my foot so all I had to do was throw my body at the ball.”

Goals are of course the key to victory there’s definitely something to be said about the Wildcats defense, which has yet to allow a goal during the entire postseason, and it all starts with their goalkeeper Lesiewicz. Typically as the competition gets better, more goals tend to be scored. But that’s just not the case for this stout SWR defense.

“I think what really got us through these tough matchups as a team was communication,” Lesiewicz said. “The defense and I communicated very well the past few games and it really makes a difference. For me personally, I know my team relies on me and I never want to let them down. I always do my best to keep the ball in front of me in anyway possible. It’s so important for me to keep us at zero goals against and in the lead.”

Between the midfield play of Pesso, Sweet and Hillis along with crucial center back play of Naomi Harris and Maya Beyersdofer, the defense has been a tough nut to crack. They’ll need their backline to show up again when they take the long bus ride north to Cortland High School on Saturday. 

SWR will play the Section III winner, New Hartford, at 5 p.m. Should they win, the Wildcats will advance to the state finals on Sunday which will be played at SUNY/Cortland.

“I think this team has risen to the challenge all year,” Gilmore said. “They’ve been able to accomplish things that many people didn’t think they’d be able to accomplish, especially after graduating so many seniors. It’s going to be cold and maybe snowy [on Saturday] but I think you have to remember what we’re there for, and that’s to get to that game on Sunday and hopefully win it.”

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“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.”

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