Michela Netto, Lilly McInnes score as Plainedge, Bayport-Blue Point girls soccer play to draw

In what was a chess match for most of the night, three hectic minutes made up for an otherwise slow-paced game between the Bayport-Blue Point and Plainedge girls soccer teams.

On Friday night in Bayport, both teams scored late-second-half goals off set pieces just three minutes apart to secure a 1-1 draw. In the 64th minute, sophomore defender Michela Netto scored on a penalty kick to break the stalemate and give Plainedge (2-1-2) the game’s only lead. In the 67th minute, junior midfielder Lilly McInnes buried a rebound after a save for the equalizer to save BBP (4-1-1) from a loss.

Though Netto was the one who finished, it was senior striker Madison Wade who created the opportunity. While struggling to win the ball in the box, Wade took a push in her back to draw the penalty, setting up Netto for the big moment.

“She’s a disrupter,” Plainedge coach Mike Vitale said. “She gets fouls, she puts pressure on the defense. She had a very good game today. She’s obviously the reason we got that goal.”

With a chance to get her team on the board, Netto sent BBP goalkeeper Alex Kaler (four saves) the wrong way and buried the penalty in the bottom-left corner of the net.

To get properly focused before taking the kick, Netto stared down BBP’s All-County keeper and thought of her teammates.

“I was just trying to clear my mind out,” Netto said. “I thought about the team, and my whole brain just went black.”

After falling behind 1-0, BBP’s offense pressed harder and got an opportunity after Plainedge committed a foul. Sophomore midfielder Mia McCormack took the free kick and roped a perfect ball right over a wall of Plainedge defenders and into the lap of goalkeeper Cayla Bloom, who saved it with her chest. Off the deflection, McInnes was positioned perfectly in the box to knock it in and find the back of the net.

McInnes purposely positioned herself there based on a gut feeling.

“I thought I had to be on the end of the kick because I had a feeling the goalie might not catch it,” McInnes said. “So I knew I had to get there, and I did. I was super excited when I got it in.”

McCormack was thrilled to see them execute the free kick perfectly.

“It was so exciting because we did it together as a team; it wasn’t just me,” McCormack said. “I knew McInnes would get on the end of it. She’s a hard worker.”

Another player who saved BBP from a loss was junior defender Emma Karafantis, as she blocked a shot on target by Netto off a corner kick in the fourth minute to save a goal.

BBP coach Katina Cokinos commended Karafantis for bailing the team out on several occasions, including that blocked shot.

“She’s such a solid player,” Cokinos said. “She’s being heavily recruited by some D-I and D-II schools. She’s a highly sought-out player. She’s consistent, tough and very soccer-minded. She has a very high soccer IQ and we can always count on her to make those big defensive plays.”