Norah Wouters Almeida nets winner as Cold Spring Harbor wins its second straight girls soccer Nassau Class B title

Cold Spring Harbor finished its run last year by making it all the way to the state Class B final after collecting Nassau and Long Island championship plaques. Eight starters finished their girls soccer run with that loss on the final day of the season.

The Seahawks then moved up to a higher-ability conference this year, Nassau A/B-I, and played against mostly A schools with a team that was on the young side. So success was elusive in the regular season.

But Cold Spring Harbor was back playing competition its own size in the postseason. It received a bye to the Nassau B final with just three teams in the field and secured the top seed from being in the higher conference. And it managed to win on its home field when it counted the most.

In a rematch of the 2024 title round against second-seeded Carle Place Friday night, the Seahawks rallied to repeat, taking a 2-1 decision in overtime.

Junior center-forward Brooke Giblin tied it with 22:24 left in regulation and eighth-grade right wing Norah Wouters Almeida won it about 1:20 into the extra period.

“It was just so rewarding,” Wouters Almeida said, “because the season has been tough.”

This team may be 3-12-2, but it’s a championship season.

SEE PHOTOSPhotos: Nassau Class B girls soccer final

“It’s honestly just amazing knowing that we have everybody to support us,” Giblin said, “our coaches telling us [throughout the season] that this isn’t the end of the fight, that we still have teams like us … and we’ll just have a great outcome at the end of the season and to never stop fighting.”

So Cold Spring Harbor will fight for a second straight Long Island Class B title against either Babylon or Center Moriches at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Harborfields High School. Tuesday's match is also a state Class B subregional. 

“It’s not easy to win a county championship when you only win two games in the year,” Seahawks coach Ryan Towers said. “That is what I’m the most proud of, that they dug deep and they got it done when people doubted them.”

Wouters Almeida got off a hard shot from the right side of the box, and it deflected in off the hands of goalkeeper Emma Barros.

“I just told [Wouters Almeida] after the game, I said, ’You’re not an eighth-grade player, you’re the best player, and you’ve got to act like that,’ and she did,” Towers said.

Barros stopped a penalty kick 1:26 into the match, and then Madison Reedy gave the Frogs a 1-0 edge on a long free kick with 4:32 left in the half. But Giblin equalized it on a rebound of a Wouters Almeida header.

So Carle Place finished at 10-6-1. Coach Steve Cadet called it a “great” season.

“We moved up divisions to [A/B-II],” he said. “… We actually finished second in the conference with babies so to speak. We started zero seniors. All 11 are back next year. Our middle school team has got some quality players. So our goal is to be back in this same spot again next year.”