Tottenville wins PSAL 'A' crown in four-OT thriller

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PHOTOS

Victoria Orlick could see her teammates on the field and the sidelines acting a bit nervous. It’s the feeling Tottenville encountered as an intense PSAL Class A girls lacrosse title game stretched its way into the fourth overtime against Curtis Sunday afternoon.

Orlick had to do something to calm her team’s nerves and quickly.

The senior midfielder scooped up a blocked shot from teammate Maria Cacciapuoti, and then circled to the right of Curtis goalie Erin Jacobson. The senior dashed forward to streak a shot attempt over the left shoulder of Jacobson into the net to seal an exhilarating 15-14, four-overtime win for the Pirates at Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn.

“I made it my moment, I had to,” Orlick said. “I’m going for it. The game has to end now with a win for our team. I wanted the ball to get into the net. All I thought was net, net, not girl, not goalie, just the net. I just looked for an opening and just took it.”

The Pirates bench wasn’t sure at first that the sudden death goal had decided the game and took a few moments before pouring onto the field following Orlick’s fourth goal of the game with 1:04 left in the fourth overtime to clinch a second consecutive city title for top-seeded Tottenville.

Nicole Tantillo recorded a team-high five goals and Anisa Glimishka added three more for the Pirates (15-1), ranked No. 4 in New York City by MSG Varsity.

The goal finished off what was a wild affair in this rematch of last year’s title game, also won by Tottenville.

“The emotion is like a rollercoaster,” said Pirates coach Lenny Hession. “You’re holding your breath, it’s a save, ok and then after a while, it’s up to the players. It’s no more coaching involved. It’s their game to win.”

Third-seeded Curtis (12-5) started off strong to take an early 4-0 lead with 17:37 left in the first half. The Pirates weren’t having an easy time containing senior middie Taylor O’Gara. Arguably the top player in the city and leading scorer in the PSAL, O’Gara finished with eight goals and earned Most Valuable Player honors.

The Pirates kept battling and finally took their first lead when Anisa Glimishka scored her team’s third consecutive goal to give Tottenville a 10-9 lead with 3:59 left in regulation. But back-to-back goals by midfielder Acacia Metz helped Curtis regain the lead at 11-10 with 1:23 left.

Maria Cacciapuoti kept the Pirates alive by scoring the tying goal with 58 seconds remaining in the second half to send the game into overtime.

Tantillo said the Pirates never wavered under the pressure, even when they displayed a bit of fatigue and may have been running on pure adrenaline.

The game remained deadlocked through a pair of three-minute overtime periods and one sudden death extra session. Both teams had a few offensive opportunities, but Pirates goalie Rebecca Fishkis and Jacobsen for Curtis came up huge.

“[It was] so intense. It went four overtimes? You can’t get any crazier than that,” Tantillo said. “You got to have heart, never give up. I missed a couple of shots, but you never give up.”

Taylor O’Gara credited Curtis, ranked No. 5 in New York City by MSG Varsity, for showing a lot of heart and determination. Nicole O’Gara, along with Metz, had three goals each to keep the Warriors neck and neck with the defending champions.

“We did a great job,” Taylor O’Gara said. “They played us tough, we played them tough. It’s the kind of game everyone wants to watch. We hung in there, had our opportunities and didn’t capitalize on it. Tottenville did. I’m not disappointed at all. We played a great game.”

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