Tori Lamendola spearheads Commack comeback over Northport

Tori Lamendola was exhausted. She had spent much of the previous 10 minutes running from sideline to sideline taking corner kicks for the Commack girls soccer team.

But after the Cougars climbed back from a three-goal deficit in the second half, Lamendola wanted to make what was likely her final corner kick her best one. And she did just that.

Lamendola sent a perfectly placed corner in front of the goal, which Sofia Toepfer knocked in with her body, with 37.3 seconds left in the second overtime period as Commack defeated Northport, 5-4, in Suffolk League I girls soccer at Commack Middle School Saturday afternoon.

“We just wanted this really bad,” Lamendola said. “It felt really good because all of us wanted it. From the bench to defense to goalie to midfield, every single person wanted the goal and we wanted to win.”

Toepfer had complete confidence Lamendola would continue to send strong corner kicks in the final minutes of overtime. The Northport defense and goalkeeper kept challenging Lamendola’s corner kicks, with the ball often going out of bounds and Lamendola restarting the process.

“I knew that we would eventually get it,” Toepfer said. “I knew one of these was going to be the one and it was. It felt unreal.”

Commack (2-0) trailed 4-1 early in the second half before scoring the final three goals of regulation to force overtime.

Deanna Pagliaro, who scored the game’s first goal before Northport scored the next four goals, finished Commack’s second goal in the front of the net off a free kick from Amelia Brite.

“Huge momentum changer,” coach Joe Brandofino said. “She always rises to the occasion. It came from a free kick and she just capitalized on her chance. You felt the energy start to change, we just kept chasing, we kept pressing, we had the ball the majority of the half on their end of the field and it just continued through overtime.”

Lamendola scored Commack’s third goal on a penalty kick a few minutes later.

“I had to stay confident,” Lamendola said. “Honestly, I just took a deep breath and picked the spot. I was a little nervous but I kept my confidence.”

“I knew she was going to score,” Brandofino said. “She’s been taking [the penalty kicks] since her junior year, she keeps converting. She’s a confident player. We don’t scream off the sideline who’s going to take it. She knows.”

Chastain Cassidy scored the tying goal when she crashed the net following Pagliaro’s shot, which was saved by Anneliese Burg. Cassidy one-timed the rebound from the right of the net for the goal.

“I just saw we had that chance to tie it and I knew I needed to do that for the team,” Cassidy said. “And I had to get there as fast as I could to get it in the back of the net.”

Jamie Inzerillo and Alexa Meinen each had two goals for Northport (1-1).

Brandofino was very pleased to see the continued fight in Commack on Saturday. The team easily could have accepted the loss after trailing by three in the final 40 minutes, but the Cougars kept pushing.

“They never felt defeated and that’s something we try to teach but that’s something that’s instilled in them,” he said. “That came from them.”

And Brandofino hopes that mentality continues throughout the season.

“There’s always a chance and that’s what it shows,” he said. “Every single game there’s always a chance. But we know we have to keep on going because we saw what just happened. In any game of soccer, it can happen both ways. We can take the lead, we have to defend it. We took the lead today, we let it go but then we came right back. It’s the game of soccer and that’s why we love it.”

“All of a sudden, we were like, we need to shift gears and you know what, we did,” Pagliaro said. “We all came back and did it as a team. Northport is a really solid, well-skilled team but honestly, we just wanted it and we got it.”