Monica Garlinska’s fear of going scoreless in her final game was washed away with the pure euphoria of the biggest goal of her career and Brooklyn Tech girls’ lacrosse history.
The senior captain used a pick from Cynthia Chu to weave her way to the goal past two Tottenville defenders and found the back of the net with 1:41 to play in double overtime. The score, her only in the game, gave the third-seeded Engineers a thrilling 6–5 victory over host and four-time defending champion Tottenville in the Public School Athletic League semifinals on Friday night.
“I caught right, switched left and shot,” Garlinska said. “I didn’t even see the ball go into the net. All I heard was screaming and it was like the best thing ever.”
Garlinska sprinted to a pack of elated teammates at midfield. She fell to her knees while shedding tears of joy and disbelief. Plenty of hugs followed.
It was only fitting that she sent the program in just its third varsity season to its first title game at the high classification. Undefeated Brooklyn Tech (19–0), which won the Class B crown last season, faces second-seeded Curtis in the final 2:30 pm Sunday at Aviator Sports Complex at Floyd Bennett Field.
“I said at one point I feel like this is a movie,” Engineers coach Anthony Cicolini said.
Garlinska’s Hollywood ending isn’t possible without the stellar play of junior goalie Alexa Euceda. She made 10 saves, including ones in the game’s most critical moments. Her most important came on the third straight free position shot by Tottenville’s Alexa Akmal in the second overtime.
Her first shot went in, but was disallowed by rule when Brooklyn Tech was whistled for blocking her shooting space. A similar call was made on the next attempt that hit the pipe. Euceda made a great low save on the last. She didn’t let her nerves affect her play all game.
“I was really about to pee myself,” Euceda said. “I just kind of focused. I didn’t let that effect me. I just kind of clear everything out and focus on the girl in front of me.”
She and sophomore Breanna Flynn were a big reason the Engineers never trailed the previously unbeaten Pirates (18–1). Brooklyn Tech had a chance to wrap the game up in regulation when Flynn’s third goal gave it a 5–4 lead with 7:09 to play. Tottenville forced overtime on an Akmal score with 1:11 to go in the fourth quarter.
Brooklyn Tech held leads of 2–0 and 4–2, by working its game plan to perfection. It slowed the pace of the game down on offense and defensively cut off Tottenville’s driving lanes and broke up passes to cutters with active sticks.
The Engineers got goals from Chu and Grace Bristol in the game’s first five minutes. Tottenville answered with scores from Nicole Barbella and Gianna Maffei to knot things at 2–2 with 10 minutes to play until halftime. Flynn scored twice in the closing minute of the half to put Tech up 4–2 at the break. Euceda made a big save just before the whistle to keep her team ahead by two.
“Scoring the first goal, we needed that,” Cicolini said. “It made us feel like we could do this. When [Flynn] scored the two goals it was huge.”
His team will need to be on its game again if it is going to beat Curtis for the crown. The Engineers beat the Warriors in an early season scrimmage, but much more will be at stake this time around.
“We feel confident after beating Tottenville and we played Curtis in a scrimmage so we know what to expect,” Garlinska said. “We are looking forward to it.
