Cold Spring Harbor falls in state Class B girls soccer state championship
Megan Jasinski of Cold Spring Harbor during the NYSHSAA Class B girls soccer championship on Sunday in SUNY Cortland. Credit: Mark McGauley
CORTLAND — During the postgame ceremony on Sunday, Cold Spring Harbor girls soccer coach Ryan Towers made a point to hug each girl after they received their finalist medal. Although the Seahawks woke up hoping to earn a different medal by the end of the day, Towers wanted to make sure each player knew exactly how he felt.
Cold Spring Harbor fell to Marcellus, 4-0, in the state Class B girls soccer championship at SUNY Cortland.
“I just want them to know how proud we are of them as a coaching staff,” Towers said. “This is the furthest we’ve been as a program as a Class B school. To make it here and to play at Cortland is really an honor and I’m so happy that we made it here.”
But even in the loss, the Seahawks were able to reflect on all they achieved this season.
“I feel like it was everything we wanted and more,” senior Mackenzie McGraw said. “All of us knew this was possible. We believed all along but to see it come to fruition, it was really amazing.”
“We always believed in ourselves and we knew if we believed, we could make it,” senior Megan Jasinski added. “I’m so proud of all of us.”
Marcellus (22-0-2) struck early with two goals in the first six minutes. It added two more goals in the second half as Lexie Fragnito recorded a hat trick. But even though the score wouldn’t indicate it, Towers felt Cold Spring Harbor played a strong game and created opportunities.
“They scored two quick goals and we made mistakes we don’t typically make, but I thought we bounced back really well,” Towers said. “We put pressure on them. And even in the second half, they put two more in but I thought we controlled the game pretty well. But they are very good.”
Cold Spring Harbor, which finished the season 11-3-5, won its first Long Island championship since 2012 with a combination of 10 seniors and contributions from a group of underclassmen.
“I think we proved that we deserved to be here,” Towers said. “We won tight games, we won big games, we lost big games but I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
The Seahawks did not allow a goal in the Nassau Class B final, Long Island Class B championship and state semifinal on Saturday. Towers and the players believed before the season they had the talent to compete for the program’s first state title since 2000 and hope to build on this in the future.
“We really believed in ourselves,” McGraw said. “We knew we had something special.”