West Islip girls soccer repeats as Long Island Class AA champions
West Islip celebrates winning the Long Island Class AA girls soccer championship game against South Side at Whitman High School on Saturday. Credit: Steven Zaitz
For the West Islip girls soccer team, victory tastes even sweeter the second time around.
After defending its county title earlier in the week, the Lions rolled past South Side, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at Whitman High School to claim their second consecutive Long Island Class AA title in the Southeast Regional Final.
“I’m so incredibly proud of this group,” coach Ed Jablonski said. “They’ve gone above and beyond all year, giving it their everything to get to this point.”
For a team loaded with 12 seniors, Saturday’s win was about more than a title — it’s about finishing strong.
It started with forward Leah Tomeo. She got the Lions on the board with just over five minutes left in the first half.
“Ava [Bianca] headed me the ball, and when I got it, I saw the net wide-open,” Tomeo said. “My first thought was to shoot it right away. It’s a nice feeling getting the first goal and taking the lead, but 1-0 is still a scary game.”
After the break, Bianca’s cross found Alexandra Livingston, who nodded it home to make it 2-0 for West Islip.
“I saw Ava going down, and I knew she was going to get past her defender, so I ran into the box,” Livingston said. “And just like every single practice, we work on crossing the ball, and eventually it had to translate into the game. It was such a good feeling.”
West Islip finished it off when sophomore Leah Tussie set up Francesca Tofano for the Lions’ final goal.
“We’ve all been on this team for so long, we can kind of predict what the other person is going to do before they do it,” Tofano said. “It really helps us work fluidly, and we honestly just perform really well together.”
West Islip (18-0-2) plays the winner of Section I's Albertus Magnus and Section III’s West Genesee at noon on Saturday at Dryden High School in the state Class AA semifinals. South Side finished 11-6-1.
“It’s one step at a time, that’s how we’ve approached it,” Jablonski said. “Our goal was to win the county, we did that, and then it was to win Long Island. Since we defended the LIC, now we move on to the states, and of course, our goal is to win on Saturday so we can play again Sunday.”
This win also marked the Lions’ sixth consecutive shutout. They haven’t allowed a goal in the playoffs.
“The back line of Meghan Farrell, Ella Heuer in the middle and Carolyn Arcoleo and Sophia Barba on the outside, they really start and set the tone for us,” Jablonski said. “I trust them with everything. They are just so dependable.”
“Our back line is so athletic and fast,” Livingston said. “We don’t really even have to worry about a girl getting around them.”
After a repeat county and Long Island win, there’s still one thing that the senior group is missing: a state championship.
Last season, they came heartbreakingly close, falling 1-0 to Albertus Magnus in the final two minutes of the second overtime in the Southeast Regional Final.
West Islip is seeking the program's first state title since 1989.
“We’ve been waiting for this for years,” Livingston said. “This is our year to do it. The 12 seniors want to go out with a bang.”
“As a class, we’ve really come together,” Tofano said. “We’re all super close and have been working hard on this team for the last four years. So, it’s our time to finally win a state championship together.”
