PLAYOFFS: Lady Cyclones Lax Cruises in First Round

The South Side Lady Cyclone seniors are making the most of their final days on the high school lacrosse field.

Seniors Liz Hoeffner and Michaela Lynch led the way Monday afternoon as the No. 6 Lady Cyclones (9-0, 13-3) knocked off the No. 11 Floral Park Lady Knights by a final of 13-8 in the first round of the Class B playoffs.

Hoeffner scored three goals and two assists, while Lynch -- Nassau County’s leading scorer during the regular season -- netted five goals to go along with three assists.

“[Michaela] just has great vision on the field,” South Side head coach Meaghan Healey said. “It’s not just about her scoring the goals, she sees the open players. She’s a very unselfish player and that’s a great thing to have.”

The closest Floral Park came to leading all game was 30 seconds into the first half when a close-range shot rang off of the post. After the initial threat, South Side controlled the pace.

Junior Briar Rose DeTomasso scored the Lady Cyclones’ first two goals en route to an early 6-3 lead, but two Floral Park goals in 36 seconds cut the lead to 6-5 with six minutes remaining in the first half.

The quick goals prompted Healey to take a timeout.

“All of our players always say something about what we’re doing wrong [during a timeout] and we try to pick each other up,” Lynch said. “… We figured out where our weaknesses were and we went out and fixed them.”

“Even though we were winning, it just didn’t feel like it was there,” Healey added. “I called a timeout … we talked about playing with a little more intensity, a little more drive.”

The team quickly responded to the timeout with a goal from junior Katie Ford.
Junior Maggie Cifarelli gave the Lady Cyclones a huge boost when she scored on a long assist from sophomore Tessa Considine as time expired in the first half, giving South Side an  8-5 lead.

The Lady Cyclones built on its first-half momentum with a 5-1 run to start the second half on the strength of two goals each from Lynch and Hoeffner and one from junior Hannah Serling.

Junior Julie Flanagan and sophomore Alyssa Knab combined for eight saves in the win.

The Conference II champion South Side team will now take on the No. 3 Wantagh Lady Warriors in the Class B quarterfinals on Thursday at Wantagh at 4:30 p.m.

South Side is looking for revenge against Wantagh after being eliminated by the Lady Warriors in last year’s playoffs by a final of 18-5. Wantagh also bested by the Lady Cyclones earlier this season by a score of 14-8.

“Our biggest goal in the beginning of the season was to win our conference. From the beginning of the season we wanted to take it game-by-game,” Lynch said of playing in the playoffs. “I think we’re taking [the postseason] with the same intensity.”