On this day eight years ago, the girls’ soccer team earned just the fourth New York State Final Four berth in school history with a 3-0 victory over S. S. Seward in the Regional Championship.

Here is the recap of the game from Mike Gavin of Newsday.

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Hennessy Helps Stony Brook Win Regional Title

Michelle Hennessy wasn’t hesitant to acknowledge the added incentive that comes with winning the regional championship.

“We get to miss two days of school,” she said. “It’s exciting.”

After scoring what proved to be the game-winner and adding two assists, Hennessy’s desk at her first-period class will be unoccupied Thursday and Friday morning.

With a 3-0 win against S. S. Seward (Section IX) Monday at Diamond in the Pines in Coram, Stony Brook won the girls’ soccer Class C Regional Championship and will leave for Cortland at 6:00am Thursday to play in the State Championships.

“I think this is the best game we played,” Hennessy said. “We played so well as a team. Everyone communicated.”

Brianna Stiklickas sent in a perfect ball on a corner kick that Hennessy headed in to break a scoreless tie with a little more than 17 minutes remaining in the first half. Five minutes later, Hennessy left a ball just outside the box for Donna Liotine, who fired it into the left corner of the net for a 2-0 lead. Kelsey Wentling added a goal off a Hennessy pass 14:15 into the second half.

“Her individual skills are incredible,” Stony Brook coach Mark Maningo said. “After the first five or 10 minutes when teams see her touch the ball, they know that she can beat them one-on-one.”

With the win, Stony Brook becomes the third team from League VII in Suffolk to head to this year’s State Championships, joining Class B winner Center Moriches and Class D winner Smithtown Christian.

Stony Brook returns to the State Championships for the second straight year. Players on that team, including All-State keeper Danielle Pappas who had six saves in Monday’s win, have been very vocal about making a return trip this season.

“The whole thought process on the bus ride over was, ‘We got this, girls,’ ” Maningo said. “That’s the way they feel. They are just very confident. They know they are going to beat their people to the ball. They know that Stiklickas can handle it on defense. Liotine was the fastest I’ve ever seen her this year. They had no answer for Hennessy up top… They are peaking right now at the most opportune time.”

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The game was not without controversy as Seward drove down for the match, on the original date scheduled two days earlier, only to find out that it had been rained out. The four-hour round trip turned out to be a waste of time.

S.S. Seward coach Joe DiMattina and his players weren’t happy on Saturday. No, Seward didn’t lose its Class C state quarterfinal girls’ soccer game against Stony Brook (11-5-2). The Spartans didn’t even get to play.

Even worse, Seward trucked it all the way down to Coram, Long Island, site of the game, only to find out it had been postponed because of rain. DiMattina said the game will now be played at 4:00pm Monday at a site to be determined.

“I’m furious and so are my players,” DiMattina said. “We were psyched up and ready to play. It would have been nice if (Long Island officials) told us before we got down here or on the way. Nobody is happy with this.”

~ Times Herald-Record

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