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Sayville girls’ magical run ends with ‘heartbreaking’ loss in county final

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Sayville girls soccer lost a nail-biter to Islip this weekend in the Suffolk County “A” championship.

The 1-0 loss in North Babylon on Saturday stopped a relentless late-season push for the fourth-seeded Golden Flashes (12-4), who had not reached the Suffolk final since 2013.

Islip (13-1-2), the No. 2 seed in the tournament, broke a scoreless tie about 10 minutes into the second half. A scrum in front of Sayville’s net led to a collision, and the ball squirted out to an Islip midfielder, who promptly scored the game’s only goal.

Sayville’s offense pressured Islip and created a number of scoring opportunities, but Islip goalkeeper Kaeli McInally delivered a big stop on each chance.

“It was a heartbreaker. (But) I’m proud of the resilience our team had today,” Sayville Coach Bob Holmes said Saturday night. “I don’t believe ‘quit’ is in their vocabulary. They played hard right to the end.”

Sayville goalkeeper Jackie DuTot made eight saves in the loss. Earlier in the week, she notched a shutout in the Golden Flashes’ 3-0 semifinal win over Rocky Point.

“This year’s squad had to overcome a lot of obstacles to get here,” Holmes said. “They played each game with pride, and it was fun to be part of.”

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