Sarah May's OT goal gives Rocky Point field hockey the Suffolk Class B title
Rocky Point celebrates their overtime win during the Suffolk High School Class B Field Hockey Finals between Rocky Point and Easthampton on Saturday Oct 29 2022 at Newfield High School. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Rocky Point’s Sarah May, a natural defender and midfielder, found herself on the attack in a 7-on-7 overtime period. On a corner, May managed to find the ball within a scrum in front of East Hampton’s net and slid the ball into the goal and No. 5 Rocky Point defeated No. 3 East Hampton, 4-3, in the Suffolk B field hockey championship.
May seemed unsure how the ball even got to her, but nonetheless was thrilled.
“I don’t know, it came toward me and then I just shot it,” May said. “I just wanted to win so bad.”
Rocky Point pressured East Hampton early with the corners and midfield play from Kylie Lamoureux.
The Eagles earned five corners in the first half, and on the fifth one, Tia Fusco punched through for the game’s first goal off an assist from Sydney Woods.
Emma McGrory quickly neutralized the game for East Hampton, scoring off its own corner with just a few seconds remaining in the half.
East Hampton and Rocky Point had played to a 1-1 tie on Oct. 19. It helped coach Katie Bittner prepare for the championship.
“[Caeleigh Schuster] was averaging like 20-plus saves per game, so we knew that she would be our No. 1 problem,” Bittner said. “She played out and she played high, so our goal was just to try to get around her, kind of screen her.”
And early in the second half, Rocky Point got through Schuster twice. Morgan Feinberg broke away from the defense and sliced the ball into the goal with 13:43 remaining in the third.
Three minutes later, Lamoureux set up Woods for a goal on a corner to put the Eagles up 3-1 and force East Hampton to call a timeout.
The Bonackers swung the momentum quickly and significantly after the break. Three straight corners finally led to Melina Sarlo scoring with just over six minutes left in the third quarter.
Kerri O’Donnell rode the momentum into the final minute, scoring the game-tying goal with 55.9 seconds left off a corner pass from Ally Schaefer.
May’s overtime winner clinched the championship and sent Rocky Point to the Long Island championship on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Berner Middle School.
