Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer three-peats in Suffolk Class A behind Mia Mangano's goal, Morgan Lesiewicz's goalkeeping
Shoreham-Wading River midfielder Mia Mangano (9) celebrates after scoring against Sayville in the Suffolk Class A girls soccer final on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. Credit: George A Faella
Though the opponents and years continue to change, the outcomes have remained the same for Shoreham-Wading River girls soccer.
With home-field advantage in the Suffolk Class A championship game, No. 2 Shoreham-Wading River defeated No. 4 Sayville, 1-0, on Tuesday night to capture its third consecutive county title and its fourth over the last six seasons.
A second-half goal by junior forward Mia Mangano and nine saves by senior goalkeeper Morgan Lesiewicz sent the Wildcats (12-2-2) back to the Long Island Class A championship game for the third straight year.
SWR landed just one shot on target in the first half while conceding five. Lesiewicz was equal to the task and corralled all of them — the first three of which were direct free kicks over a wall of defenders.
The Wildcats’ offense got going in the 48th minute when sophomore midfielder Stamatia Almiroudis lofted a deep shot from beyond the 18-yard box that Sayville senior goalkeeper Olivia Moynihan saved in the front-left corner. However, the ball bounced loose in front of the net, where Mangano had strategically placed herself, allowing her to smack the rebound back in.
“We always talked about if [Almiroudis] is running for the ball, always go for the back net because she can hit that ball wherever, whenever,” Mangano said.
Mangano was stunned after scoring what proved to be the winner.
“It feels amazing,” Mangano said. “There’s no words for it.”
With how locked in Lesiewicz was, one goal was all SWR needed. She made another four saves in the second half to secure her 51st career shutout and secured it in acrobatic fashion.
In the 60th minute, Sayville’s Maya Troll lofted up a free kick into the box for Morgan Farrell, who headed it downward to the vacated front-right corner. Lesiewicz laid out and stuffed it. No more shots came her way.
“I think to myself, ‘If I let a goal in, how is this going to affect everyone else?’ ” Lesiewicz said. “I know that if I let a goal in, my team may fall apart and get in their own heads. I save the ball to keep them in the game.”
Moynihan made four saves for Sayville (10-3-3).
SWR will look to defend its Long Island title at 3 p.m. Sunday at Farmingdale State against the winner of the Nassau Class C championship game between North Shore and Wantagh.
