The third-seeded Port Washington Lady Vikings defeated second seed Syosset Lady Braves 11-10 in the Nassau Class A Girls Lacrosse semi-finals Thursday afternoon at Adelphi University.
Lily Avazis, who scored twice, netted the game-winning goal in triple overtime off a free position shot from Ali Hoffman.
Hoffman and Rebecca Rosen each recorded a hat trick for Port Washington while Rachel Rosen had a goal and four assists.
Micaela Gearty scored a pair of goals for Port Washington while goalkeeper Claudia Hanover stopped eight shots, including four through overtime.
Taylyn Stadler led Syosset with a hat trick and two assists while Kendall Halpern added two goals.
Katelyn Igneri and Nicole Concannon had a goal and assist for Syosset while goalkeeper Amanda Alejo stopped five shots.
Port Washington head coach Kaitlyn Carter said she described the game as a nail biter.
“It was back and forth the entire time,” Carter said. “The girls dug deep and gave it their all. They really earned that win.”
In the first half, each team scored four goals but Syosset had a 8-7 edge in shots on goal.
Stadler led Syosset with two goals and an assist while Rebecca Rosen led Port Washington with two goals as well.
Syosset struck first with goals from Nicole Rizzo, Sofia Afkham and Stadler to take a 3-0 lead with 16:06 remaining in the opening half.
Port Washington answered back to tie the game at three on goals by Gearty, Rebecca Rosen and Hoffman with six minutes left in the first half.
With 1:44 remaining, Stadler gave Syosset a 4-3 lead with her second goal of the game.
Port Washington responded again as Rebecca Rosen tied the game at four with 27.3 seconds left.
In the second half, each team scored six goals and had six shots apiece.
Halpern led Syosset with two goals while Stadler and Concannon each had a goal and an assist.
Rachel Rosen led Port Washington with a goal and three assists while Hoffman recorded two goals and an assist.
Gearty gave Port Washington a 5-4 lead off an assist from Rachel Rosen less than a minute into the second half.
Syosset evened up the game at five on a goal by Kayla Gulmi with 19:31 left in regulation.
Stadler completed the hat trick at 17:51 and gave Syosset a 6-5 lead.
Port Washington tallied four consecutive goals to take a 9-6 lead, on goals from Hoffman, Rachel Rosen, Rebecca Rosen and Avazis with 9:24 left in the second half.
Concannon’s goal cut Port Washington’s lead to two with 7:50 remaining.
Port Washington took back the three goal lead with Hoffman’s hat trick at 6:11.
Syosset rallied to even the game up at 10 as Halpern scored twice and Igneri tied it with 1:50 left in regulation, forcing Port Washington to call a timeout.
The game was tied at 10 and was heading into a three minute sudden death overtime.
In the first overtime, Syosset controlled the play and had the only shot on net.
After Syosset called a timeout with 34.4 seconds left, they had an opportunity to end the game on a free position shot.
Hanover came up with a big save to keep Port Washington’s season alive with less than 20 seconds remaining.
Each side had a chance to win it in the second overtime, but neither were able to finish and the game went to triple overtime.
Hoffman took a free position shot from the eight-meter line and passed it to Avazis.
Avazis buried the game winning goal with 2.1 seconds left, as Port Washington went on to win 11-10.
Avazis said she planned out what she was gonna do before she got the pass from Hoffman on the free position shot.
“On the line, I knew the ball was coming right to me,” Avazis said. “I knew what I was going to do. I faked it high, shot low and executed. I’m really proud of that.”
