Sachem East field hockey wins second straight Long Island championship
Sachem East celebrates after defeating Massapequa in the Long Island Class A field hockey championship on Sunday at Sachem East. Credit: Bob Sorensen
The Sachem East field hockey team earned its second straight Long Island title. And once again, it came in a perfect run against Long Island opponents.
Sachem East remains unbeaten after defeating Massapequa, 2-0, in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional Final on its home field on Sunday.
Sachem East (19-0) plays Mamaroneck at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Arlington High School in the state Class A semifinals. Massapequa finished 11-7.
Josie Dee scored Sachem East's first goal in the second quarter and later assisted Brooke Wasson when she sealed the deal in the fourth quarter.
“It feels awesome,” Dee said. “Scoring early definitely picked up our momentum for the rest of the game, and now we get to go to states for the second season in a row, which is unbelievable.”
After Massapequa successfully cleared Sachem East’s second consecutive corner of the quarter, Sachem East regained control and applied the pressure. Alexis Donahue sent a cross to Dee, who was waiting patiently on the left post to finish the shot and give Sachem East its first lead with 5:26 remaining in the first half.
But Massapequa gained some momentum in the third quarter. Kaitlyn Terranova fired a point-blank shot about three minutes into play, but Sachem East goalkeeper Marcelina Torre shut down the opportunity.
“Our defense in the circle today was really good,” Torre said. “Our layers were nice and I think we played really clean.”
Just more than two minutes into the final quarter, Sachem East earned the penalty corner that would secure the win. Dee inserted the corner to Wasson, who uncorked a drive from the top of the arc to sting the right corner and extend Sachem East’s lead to 2-0.
With 13:11 remaining between Sachem East and the title, Dee said defense became her team’s top priority.
“We knew we needed to keep the momentum going our way and do what we can to keep [Massapequa] out of the circle,” Dee said. “We worked as a unit and managed to keep the ball in front of us for the rest of the game.”
Coach Tina Moon said that after securing the lead in the first half, holding onto it can bring challenges. Defense was important, but playing clean, efficient offense is what earned Sachem East its fourth-quarter insurance goal and a Long Island title.
“Our goal, especially going into the second half, was to keep the ball out of the middle of the field,” Moon said. “I knew we had to do a better job of keeping the ball on our sticks because we wanted them to chase us more than we were chasing them. This is all about the experience for the kids, so I’m glad we got it done today.”
