Samantha DeNisco's first-half goal fires up Northport in win over ESM
Northport's Sammy DeNisco moves the ball upfield in the second half during a Suffolk girls soccer game against host Eastport-South Manor on Wednesday. Credit: Bob Sorensen
It wasn’t exactly Babe Ruth calling his shot in the 1932 World Series, but Samantha DeNisco and Brooke Heffernan did their own version of predicting the future and making it happen.
With less than 30 seconds left in the first half, the Northport duo knew they didn’t want to enter halftime with the girls soccer match still scoreless. They were determined to make a play to change that and it didn’t take long for it to happen.
Heffernan sent a booming through ball down the field and DeNisco outran the Eastport-South Manor defense. DeNisco sent the ball past the charging goalkeeper to score with 11 seconds left in the first half as Northport defeated host Eastport-South Manor, 2-0, in non-league girls soccer play on Wednesday.
“Brooke literally told me five seconds before that we need to connect on something,” DeNisco said. “So in my mind, I knew I was going to do this and get the ball in the net.”
“We had a heart-to-heart five seconds before and then she scored the goal,” Heffernan added. “I put just enough power on it so Sam could get a touch on it before the goalie stepped out. Just the way Sam hit that ball in, it was so cool. I was just left going, ‘Wow.’”
DeNisco didn’t have time to corral possession. She one-touched the ball from about 25 yards out and it rolled into the right corner of the net seconds before the conclusion of the first half.
“I knew I was going to sacrifice anything to get it in,” DeNisco said. “I knew I just had to get it off my foot, a toe poke, anything. Anything to get that ball in, that’s all my mind was focused on.”
DeNisco recorded an assist on Northport’s second goal as she fielded a cross from Ava DeMarco. DeNisco tried to finish the goal herself but after it got trapped under her foot, she found Finnley Wickard in front of the net to give Northport a 2-0 lead with 31:46 left in the second half.
Coach Aija Gipp said the late first-half goal was a pivotal lift heading into the second half.
“It was huge to get that goal so the girls can start to relax in terms of playing more naturally and not overthinking,” Gipp said. “I think that goal relaxed them and you could see it on the field in the second half.”
Northport was coming off a 2-0 loss to Sachem East in its season-opener on Tuesday and the Tigers didn’t want that memory to linger.
“It’s a confidence boost because I think after [Tuesday], everyone was kind of jittery,” Heffernan said. “We just had to find our groove. This was a big win for us.”
