Before the B bracket girls soccer playoff game against No. 5 McGann-Mercy started, Mattituck freshman Jane Digregorio didn’t think she would get much playing time. Her name wasn’t even on the roster, her coach had to write it in. She was a JV player in the beginning of the season and was asked to move up when senior Abby Graeb went down with an ACL injury.
“I played in her spot for a few games and I started to feel comfortable,” Digregorio said. “I decided that even though I wasn’t going to get as much playing time on varsity, I wanted to stay.”
Good thing she stayed.
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.
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. She had only two goals on the season before the game. To score in a playoff game was a “dream come true.”
What she didn’t know was that the dream hadn’t ended.
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 girls never gave up,” Mattituck head coach Malynda Nichol said. “They believe in each other, they believe in pride for their school, for their family and they wanted this game for each other.”
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.
“I first thought to pass it off,” Digregorio said. “But then I started thinking about what my dad always tells me and that’s to go to goal. And that’s what I did.”
She gave it her best shot.
With 47 seconds left in the game, the left foot of Digregorio gave Mattituck the lead.
“I didn’t think it was going to go in,” she said. “I kicked it with my weaker foot and I really thought it didn’t have a chance of going in.”
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.
Nichol, who was showered with popcorn before getting a bath of ice water dumped on her head, could not be any more proud of her team.
“It was great to see the girls stay disciplined and play possession-style ball,” Nichol said. “We’ve grown so much over the course of the season. It’s great to see when things break down that they can problem solve and never give up. They left it all on the field.”
Degregorio, who the team nicknamed “Little J,” wasn’t little anymore. She was on the big stage being called a hero.
Keep dreamin’ Little J.
