Reagan Silhan lifts Connetquot girls lacrosse in third OT

Reagan Silhan knew exactly what she needed to do.

The Connetquot senior had a potential game-winning free position opportunity earlier in the season and after that one didn’t result in a celebration, Silhan was determined to end this one differently. Silhan escaped past the collapsing defense, went low and got just enough on her free-position shot to score the winning goal as host Connetquot defeated Ward Melville, 9-8, in triple-overtime in a Suffolk Division I girls lacrosse game Wednesday night. 

“I knew I had to get it in order to win,” Silhan said. “And once I got around [the defenders], I shot it as low as I could and hoped it went in.”

Silhan ended up on the turf after taking the winning shot. The reaction around her told her exactly what happened.

“I was pretty confident,” Silhan said. “It was a lot of pressure, but my teammates really cheered me on. I heard everyone cheering.”

Silhan scored the winner with 49 seconds left in the third overtime period to deliver Connetquot its first victory over Ward Melville in program history, according to coach Sal Piscitelli.

“Our motto is, ‘One team, one dream,’ so we’ve really been sticking to that this year,” Silhan said. “And I think that’s really helped us get as far as we have.”

“It’s taken us a little while to get there, but what these girls are doing today is probably because of a lot of what came before them,” Piscitelli said. “They are playing for those girls as well and those girls have helped them push and train more to get to this point.”

Connetquot improved to 10-5 overall and 10-3 in Suffolk I. Ward Melville fell to 9-6 overall and 9-4 in Suffolk I in a key matchup for postseason seeding.

Hayden Murphy scored the tying goal on a free-position shot with two seconds left in the fourth quarter for Connetquot.

“I just did it for my team,” Murphy said. “I put all my worries behind, I just aimed and it went in."

Silhan and Murphy each had two goals, Jenna Lineman had a goal and two assists and Shannon Morley had eight saves, including two in overtime, for Connetquot.

Connetquot trailed 5-1 in the first quarter before cutting Ward Melville’s lead to 6-4 at halftime.

“We were down 5-1 at the end of the first and they just knew they were going to dig deep and fight,” Piscitelli said. “They are hard workers.”

Connetquot is a self-motivated group determined to have a special season for the program. Wednesday’s win was one part of that with the playoffs starting next week.

“We know what this means to us,” Murphy said. “So we did this for us.”