Sacred Heart girls soccer's Maya Harrison has a goal, assist in win over South Side
Maya Harrison (No. 13), second from left, of Sacred Heart is congratulated after scoring her penalty kick during a Nassau non-league girls soccer game against South Side on Saturday in Rockville Centre. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Sacred Heart girls soccer team was able to weather the South Side Cyclones Saturday, topping the strong home team, 2-1 in a non-league game in Rockville Centre.
Sacred Heart's Maya Harrison had a goal and an assist.
In fact, Sacred Heart only needed two minutes of offense to notch the win, but there was a whole lot of defense along the way.
As is common at the start of a new season, both teams took some time to get settled — prodding at each other’s defenses while trying to find holes. Much of the first half was a stalemate in the midfield, but South Side slowly began to find some scoring opportunities. Brooke Doreste and Julie Faranda each found time and space to test Sacred Heart goalkeeper Leah Stern but were held off.
“It can be stressful but I know I have to stay composed,” said Stern, who made 18 saves. “I know my defense is there for me and they’re the first in line, I’m only there to back them up.”
The Spartans (1-1), who tallied one shot on goal in the first half, came out looking like an entirely different team in the second.
Harrison sent a cross-field pass to Giuliana Bianco right in front of the net in the 46th minute. Bianco slipped the ball past South Side goalkeeper Abby Gruner for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Harrison scored to push the lead to 2-0.
Faranda put South Side (1-1) on the board in the 71st minute. .
“It was great to get things started,” Harrison said. “Our coach [Caroline Nuttall] got us really fired up at halftime and from then on we played so much more confidently and tough.”
It was Nuttall's first victory as Sacred Heart coach.
"South Side came out really strong today,” said Nuttall, who was previously an assistant for the program and is in her first year as head coach. “They have a decent sized field and they used that to their advantage. At halftime, I told the team we need to exploit that space and play where their numbers aren’t. I think we did a really good job at that and it ended up paying off.”
