Sahar Rashidzada preserves Half Hollow Hills West's win over Hauppauge

The final minute of the game seemed as if  it would never end for the Half Hollow Hills West girls soccer team.

Hauppauge had three corner kicks over the final 30 seconds. The Hills West defense kept fighting off one attempt just to have to deal with one more.

The final chance was the scariest for the Colts — as even their coach thought it was going to result in overtime.

But junior goalkeeper Sahar Rashidzada got enough of her hand on the final corner kick with 10 seconds left in the second half. Rashidzada managed to knock the ball out of bounds and preserve No. 3 Half Hollow Hill West’s 1-0 victory over No. 6 Hauppauge at home in the Suffolk Class A quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon.

“I was very nervous because it was the last 30 seconds and they were pressing on me,” said Rashidzada, who made nine saves. “When they came at me, I just reacted and I looked at the ball and I just hit it over. I got super excited and all my teammates just got excited with me and we started to celebrate.”

The celebration sends Hills West (11-2-2) to the Suffolk Class A semifinals. The Colts play at No. 2 East Islip, the defending Suffolk Class A champions, Friday at 4 p.m. Hauppauge finishes 8-6-4.

“That one-handed touch on that last shot to deflect it out, I thought that was going in,” coach Tim Harrigan said. “Sometimes [Rashidzada] gets in her own head but when it’s time to lock in, she’s something else.”

The game’s lone goal didn’t come without some controversy though. Ghita Haouzi intended to send a cross toward the net after defeating multiple defenders to get to the right side of the goal. But her cross deflected off a Hauppauge defender and past the goalkeeper. Initially, it appeared as if another Hauppauge defender may have gotten to the ball before it crossed the endline, but the side judge ruled it a goal with 8:38 left in the first half.

“At first I was surprised because that wasn’t my intention but a goal’s a goal,” Haouzi said. “I was excited to get the one goal of the game.”

Hauppauge coach Jessica Kulesa said she was told by the center official that he deferred to the side judge for the goal’s ruling. Kulesa didn’t agree with that decision.

“It’s a terrible way for referees to insert themselves into the game,” Kulesa said. “If he was on the goal line, I could swallow it but I can’t believe anybody can make that call from the 10-yard line. And that’s a shame for these kids and that ended these girls’ season.

“It was a great soccer game,” Kulesa continued. “It was a tale of two halves. We played a ton of defense in the first half, we were putting pressure on them and they were playing a ton of defense in the second half. It was really a great 80 minutes of soccer and to have it decided by a sideline referee is such a shame.”

“To me, it looked like there was a girl that dug it out from behind the line,” Harrigan said. “So I thought it was a goal from where I was standing, absolutely.”