In the first playoff game of the varsity division in the LILJ HSWL on Wednesday evening, the Cyclones faced off against the SA 2024 team in the 8 vs 9 matchup of the opening round of the playoffs in the AAA bracket. This game saw the 9th seeded Friars come away with a 13-4 victory over 8th seeded South Side to advance to the quarter finals.
The first half was controlled by the Frairs who managed to jump out to a 6-0 lead over the first 16 minutes of play, while their defense kept South Side scoreless in that time frame. Ultimately the lead after the first half of play was 7-2 in favor of St. Anthony’s. In the second half the momentum continued for the Friars, outscoring South Side 6-2 to come away with the big win. Advancing to the next round St. Anthony’s will face Bayport who enters as the top overall seed in the AAA bracket.
Standing out for the Friars were many of their top players as UNC commit Tess Calabria led the way with three goals and was a facilitating meistro, dishing out six assists. Emily Haugen the Hopkins commit and Megan Kenny the Maryland commit also tallied a hat-trick each. Leading the Friars in ground balls with each included Emily Haugen, Penn State commit Brooke Long, and Duke commit Amanda Paci. The elite goaltending duo of UNC commit Lexi Zenk and Rutgers commit Stella Quilty only allowed two goals each with Zenk posting a 50% save percentage, and Quilty a 71% save percentage.
On the other side, the Cyclones scoring came from Stony Brook bound Angela Taddeo with two goals, and one goal each from Lafayette commit Annie Madden, and Binghamton commit Sienna Fox.
As the Friars advance to the next round, their highly anticipated matchup against Bayport is January 11th at 11:00pm. South Side will be back in action on January 13th for a consolation matchup against Smithtown West at 11:15am.
