Bosco’s Goal Puts Blue Devils in Suffolk Finals
Sensational senior Angela Bosco scored the game’s lone goal as the Huntington girls’ soccer team upset No. 1 Islip on its home field last Friday afternoon in the Section XI Class A semi-finals, 1-0. The Blue Devils will play Hauppauge for the county title on Wednesday at the Dowling College sports complex at 2 p.m.
Huntington, which is making head coach John Walsh a very happy man by peaking at just the right time, engaged in a fierce defensive battle with Islip in the first half. Neither team could manage to put the ball in the net.
Bosco finally broke the deadlock when she scored off a clearing pass from teammate Michaela Acton with about 17 minutes remaining in the game. Bosco showed her dribbling skills and speed, eluding the Eagles’ defense and blasting a shot into the left corner. Blue Devil goalie Lori Messina stopped five shots, including one during a late game scramble in front of the goal to lock-up the shutout.
"Although based on the standings all indications showed Islip as the better team, my teammates and I knew that if we played with the same tenacity that got us to the playoffs, we could prove ourselves a worthy opponent,” Messina said. “We knew we had to go into the game strong and not afraid of anything. During the last few minutes we knew we could not let our guard down and had to play the strongest defense possible to insure our victory.”
Walsh is known to rely on all 11-players on the field at any one time. Against Islip, the team’s defense needed to play its “A” game and it rose to the challenge, with Danielle Catanese and Maya Yakobi leading the way with a suffocating and aggressive presence.
Hauppauge, which advanced to the championship game by besting No. 2 Mount Sinai, 3-1, topped Huntington on September 12 in overtime, 3-1. The Blue Devils led in that game after Bosco scored in the first half. But, that was then and this is now. Walsh hopes his team will continue responding positively to every challenge that comes its way.
The Blue Devils were seeded fourth in the Class A bracket and were underdogs against the four-time defending county champion Buccaneers, who had the added advantage of playing on their home field. But now, just like that, Huntington is playing for the Suffolk crown and the coaches and players are excited.
Tickets to the title game are available at the gate at Dowling for $6.
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