In a clash between two Class B teams, 10th seeded Garden City and 7th seeded Smithtown West faced off in the opening round of the HSWL playoffs in the AAA bracket for a spot in the next round against Long Beach. A matchup that could be a possible Long Island Championship preview in the spring went to Garden City this time around, as they came away victorious by a score of 9-5 to advance to the quarter finals.
Through the first 10 minutes of the game it was an evenly matched contest as the two teams were tied, each scoring three goals. It wasn’t until the latter stages of the first half where Garden City went on a 3-0 scoring run with two goals from Kathryn Monaco and one from Kyle Finnell which gave the Trojans a 6-3 lead heading into halftime. The second half which was more predicated on defense saw Garden City outscore Smithtown West 3-2 to bring the final to 9-5.
Standing out offensively for Garden City was the play of Villanova commit Kathryn Monaco and Northwestern commit Kyle Finnell who each led the team in scoring with a hat-trick. Mabel Overbeck the Duke bound senior also added two goals along with two ground balls, while Averie Smith led all players with three ground balls. Garden City’s goaltending which has been phenomenal all winter long was once again stellar as Yale commit Niamh Pfaff made six saves and finished with a save percentage of 54%.
As for Smithtown West, they once again saw a strong performance in the net from sophomore Bella Marciano who kept the Bulls within striking distance with her seven saves. Smithtown West’s offense was sparked by Rutgers commit Kate Theofield’s two goals and two assists, and JMU commit Jolie Schiavo’s two goals. Also adding a goal along with two ground balls was the sophomore Alyssa Lorefice.
Garden City’s matchup in the quarters is against fellow Nassau Class B Long Beach which will take place January 11th at 9:30pm. Smithtown West will face South Side in the consolation bracket on January 13th at 11:15am.
