Ava Bowers, Gianna Visone lift Oceanside to back-to-back Class AAA titles
Oceanside celebrates a goal by Ava Bowers during the Nassau Class AAA girls soccer final against Syosset on Sunday at Farmingdale State College. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Last year, the Oceanside girls soccer team ended a 43-year county championship drought.
This year, the Sailors proved it was no one-time thing.
The top-seeded Sailors defeated No. 3 Syosset, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon at Farmingdale State College, earning back-to-back Nassau Class AAA titles.
“It feels just as good the second time, if not a little better,” junior Gianna Visone said. “We’re just very excited to be here.”
Watching from the crowd was a former Sailor who knew the feeling well. Grace Cucchissi was a member of the 1978/1979 team, Oceanside’s last county champion before last year.
“It’s extremely special to have a former player here,” coach Danielle Chiera said. “It’s a really unbelievable full circle moment for the history of the program and what the future could be.”
Oceanside struck early. Less than 10 minutes in, senior forward Ava Bowers intercepted a Syosset pass and made the most of it.
“I saw that the ball wasn’t going that fast, and I felt like I could get to it,” Bowers said. “Then I took my touch and aimed for the back post. I was so relieved when it went in.”
After Bowers’ early goal, Oceanside’s defense kept Syosset quiet for the rest of the half. Then, midway through the second, the Sailors broke through again — Bowers delivered a perfect cross to Visone, who tucked it away to double the lead.
“Ava crossed the ball, and I knew I was going to do everything I could to get on it,” Visone said. “It felt really good to solidify the lead.”
Syosset turned up the pressure after the break, but the Oceanside back line never wavered, anchored by an outstanding performance from junior goalie Ella Murray. She made three crucial saves in the second half, including a diving stop that preserved the shutout for the Sailors.
“I always am giving it my all, doing whatever I can not to let the ball go into the net,” Murray, the first-year starting goalie for the Sailors, said.
Tate Sofier made six saves for Syosset (2-7-4).
“This team got a little taste of what this experience is like last year,” Chiera said. “It was easy to make excuses as to why we wouldn’t get here this time; we graduated 11 seniors and lost six starters. But they set the goal to repeat, and we took it game by game.”
Oceanside (9-5-4) will face the winner of No. 1 Northport/No. 2 Commack at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Whitman High School, where they look to earn the program’s first-ever Long Island title.
“Going into last year, there was a bit more pressure because we were going against a team that had been undefeated for three years,” Bowers said. “Now, we’re way more confident as a team, and we know that this is what we’ve worked for and we deserve it.”
