Olivia Bozzo, Smithtown East advance past top-seed Northport
Olivia Bozzo #18 of Smithtown East, right, gets pressured by Marryn Gruhn #27 of Northport during the Suffolk County girls soccer Class AA semifinals at Northport High School on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. Bozzo scored two goals as Smithtown East defeated top-seeded Northport 4-1. Credit: James Escher
Olivia Bozzo sent a quality chance to give the Smithtown East girls soccer team a two-goal lead wide right. She promised herself not to let an opportunity like that slip away again.
One minute after that missed shot, Gianna Noce crossed a ball her way in front of the net after a pass from Samantha Hannwacker. Bozzo capitalized.
"I knew I wanted it," Bozzo said. "I needed to get that one. After I missed the first one, I told myself ‘You have to get it in.’ I just locked eyes with that ball and I knew I was going to finish it."
Bozzo headed in the goal to give No. 5 Smithtown East a two-goal advantage with 5:52 remaining in the first half in its 4-1 victory over host, top-seeded Northport in a girls soccer Suffolk Class AA semifinal Saturday afternoon.
Smithtown East (12-2-3) advances to play No. 3 Smithtown West in the Suffolk Class AA championship at North Babylon High School Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Brooke Herber scored off a 30-yard free kick to give Smithtown East a 1-0 lead with 29:14 remaining in the first half.
"As soon as I put the ball down, I felt it," she said. "I felt good about it. I was determined to get that first goal or get a cross in for someone on my team."
Bozzo scored her second goal to give the Bulls a 3-0 lead with 28:09 remaining in the second half off a long through ball from Mallory Anderson, who battled for possession near midfield firing the pass.
"It was perfect," Bozzo said. "She’s one of my best friends and we’ve been wanting to assist on a goal and we got it. I knew it was going to happen."
Madison Howard headed a goal off an assist from Mairead Gayer for Northport (14-3). Lauren Hickey scored the final goal for Smithtown East.
"We’re all here to win," Herber said. "No one wants to go home without that county championship. I wish everyone else the best of luck, but I really think we can do it."
Smithtown West advances
No lead is safe when playing Smithtown West. Even when trailing Ward Melville by two goals at halftime in a Suffolk Class AA semifinal, Smithtown West remained confident it would win.
No. 3 Smithtown West (15-2-1) rallied with three second-half goals to defeat host No. 2 Ward Melville, 3-2, Saturday afternoon.
Hannah Maracina placed the winning goal in the bottom-right corner of the net from 12 yards off an assist from Laina Friedmann with 2:05 remaining in the second half to break a tie at 2. Madison DeMaio ripped the tying goal from 20 yards off an assist from Maracina with eight minutes remaining in the second half against Ward Melville (13-2-4).
"You can never count us out," coach Emily Fey said. "This team has so much heart and when we find our way and we connect, we make great things happen and I was happy we were able to connect and rise above."
