Sayville flag football stays undefeated thanks to Olivia Moynihan's two touchdowns vs. East Islip
Sayville's Olivia Moynihan (5) runs in a touchdown in the second half during a Suffolk flag football game between East Islip and Sayville on Wednesday April 30, 2025. Credit: Bob Sorensen
Sayville quarterback Olivia Moynihan looked downfield and found no open receivers. The East Islip defense had locked down all her options on a fourth-and-18 play.
It was go time. The senior needed to make a quick decision: Either throw a Hail Mary pass or tuck it and run.
She took off.
Moments later, Moynihan had burst down the home sideline and raced to a 38-yard touchdown to give Sayville a double-digit lead in its 13-6 win over East Islip in a Suffolk League II flag football game in Islip Terrace.
“It was a designed pass play,” said Moynihan, who has thrown 33 touchdowns and no interceptions this season. “And I saw so much open space, so I took off.”
The win moved first-place Sayville to 12-0 but not without a challenge from East Islip. They were forced to stop East Islip inside the red zone twice in the first half to preserve a one-score lead.
Moynihan opened the scoring when she fired a 10-yard touchdown pass to Trinity Ricevuto with 17:52 left in the first half. She added the one-point conversion pass to Ava Vadyak for a 7-0 lead.
She completed six of seven passes for 60 yards on the TD march.
“The cornerback bit on the pump fake and I was wide open in the end zone,” Ricevuto said. “The pass was perfect.”
But this win was far from easy. East Islip, a fledgling program in its first year, gave the state finalists all they could handle. Junior halfback Danika Tidridge torched the Golden Flashes’ defense for 170 all-purpose yards, including 125 on the ground.
But the defending Long Island champions were resilient and kept East Islip out of the end zone until the final minute of the game. Vadyak’s goal-line interception with 10 seconds left in the first half denied East Islip.
“We were preparing for that run game and contained it,” said Moynihan, who had two interceptions. “We also played great pass defense.”
Sayville coach Reade Sands was impressed with East Islip (9-3).
“They play a tough game,” he said. “And the running back is fast. We had to keep our leverage and box her inside and pull our flags.”
East Islip avoided the shutout when senior quarterback Lauren Glynn found freshman Bianca Maitre on a third-and-goal pass from the 18-yard line with 48 seconds remaining to make it 13-6.
“We really wanted the shutout,” Vadyak said. “We had played lockdown defense all game.”
East Islip coach Robert Sconone Jr. said he was proud of his team’s effort. “I’m proud of how far we’ve come in our first year. We’ll take a lot of positives out of this game. We hung with the state finalists.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
