Blue Devils’ Season Ends with
Playoff Loss
The Huntington High School girls’ soccer team was knocked out of the Section XI Class AA playoffs Monday when host Smithtown East edged the Blue Devils, 2-0.
The teams were locked in a scoreless tie until the 21st minute when Smithtown East’s Brianna Donato scored off an assist by Gabby Albano. Erin Vernillo scored the victor’s second goal off another Albano assist to put the game away.
Despite dominating the game for long stretches, Huntington could not get the ball into the goal.
No. 9 Huntington (8-4-3) took five shots, but Smithtown East (11-4-2) goalie Kelly Horan stopped all of them to notch a shutout. Junior goalie Katelin Wascher, who filled in for injured Taylor Moreno, recorded four saves for the Blue Devils.
“Although we did dominate a good amount of the game, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net,” sophomore forward Katie Reilly said. “Kaitlin Wascher did an amazing job for having to be put in the goal at the last minute.”
Coached by John Walsh and Vincent Tannazzo, Huntington had its best season since 2009 when it reached the Suffolk finals. The Blue Devils missed the playoffs by a single point in both 2010 and 2011 and then struggled through one of their worst years ever last fall.
“We had a terrific season especially coming off a not so great season last year,” Reilly said about the current campaign. “The seniors really did a great job of leading the team and taking us to the playoffs and they will be missed.”
No. 8 Smithtown East now advances to play No. 1 Northport (16-0) on Thursday at 2 p.m.