Girls soccer playoffs: Mattituck edges past McGann-Mercy, 3-2

The Mattituck Tuckers beat the McGann-Mercy Monarchs with seconds left on the clock in the  B bracket girls soccer playoff game Saturday afternoon.

No. 4 Mattituck struck first with 20 minutes left in the second half. An arid clearance by the McGann-Mercy defense dropped the ball in front of midfielder Corrine Reda, who then brought the ball into the penalty area and finished a strike herself that hit the back of the net.

A game that was scoreless up until that point was about to get interesting.

Mattituck kept getting opportunities to score but could not extend the lead. Alya Ayoub had three breakaways but could not capitalize on any of them.

With 13 minutes to go, A long ball driven into the box by McGann-Mercy found the head of Abby Coniglio, who got the ball past the Mattituck goalkeeper to tie the game up at 1. It was suddenly a new game.

A head-to-head collision by Ayoub and McGann-Mercy’s Alexandra Hulse put a temporary stop to the game with eight minutes to play. Ayoub was ruled out with a concussion.

Her replacement? Jane Digregorio, a freshman player who just moved up to varsity earlier in the season.

Within a minute, Digregorio made her mark. After intercepting a bad pass, she sped up the field and let the ball fly from just inside the penalty area and scored the goal to put her team ahead.

McGann-Mercy responded. On a free kick from over 30 yards out, Dayna Young ripped the ball into the box and though many tried to head it in, it touched nothing all the way to the back of the net. The game was now tied 2-2.

The game went into a regular overtime and after a scoreless 19 minutes out of the 20, sudden death overtime was on the verge of beginning. But just then, Mattituck caught a break and began streaking down the field, Digregorio had possession and dumped the ball in the corner to Alex Beebe. Beebe then found Digregorio, who had ran directly into the penalty area. It was just her and the goalie.

With 47 seconds left in the game, the left foot of Digregorio gave Mattituck the lead.

The final seconds ticked off the clock to bring cheers on one side of the field and tears on the other. Mattituck won the game 3-2.