By Joseph Staszewski
Maria Canicatti basically said, “What the heck.”
The St. Francis Prep midfielder controlled the ball 35 yards out on the near side without a defender nearby.
“I just had the time and space so I decided to take a shot,” Canicatti said.
The ball sailed just under the crossbar and out of the reach of a leaping Mary Martinosky, the St. Mary’s (L.I.) goalkeeper. The goal capped the scoring for the Terriers in the 66th minute and gave the junior, who added an assist, her first hat trick of the season in a 4-1 win over the Gaels in CHSAA Nassau/Suffolk girls’ soccer AA/A crossover Oct. 13
“She has great skills, the speed,” freshman forward Aime Kasmally said. “She knows where to place the ball.”
Canicatti opened the scoring by taking a pass from Maria Moutopoulos, beating a charging defender and drilling a shot to the near side post in the 10th minute. She sent a corner kick into the box that Kasmally headed home for SFP’s second goal. St. Mary’s (2-7-1) cut the lead to 2-1 on a Lauren Price goal off a pass from Kay Ramirez in the 23rd minute, but Canicatti controlled a deflection of her own shot and scored to increase the lead 10 minutes before halftime.
“It was finally nice to get a win where it was 4-1, it wasn’t a close game,” Canicatti said.
It’s a result the Terriers (3-5-2) have desperately needed. One of their other wins was by a four-goal margin, but the young squad has struggled to score at times against the league’s elite. A bevy of injuries have kept St. Francis Prep from having a consistent starting lineup and talented freshman midfielder D.J. Glazer transferred to Bayside because she felt the school was not the right fit for her, according to Coach John Jenkins.
“It was frustrating, but I knew that if we kept trying we would be able to [score],” Kasmally said. “Our team has the skill. … It wasn’t a real worry.”
Backup goalkeeper Kelsey Dittmeir filled in admirably for starter Toni Ann Groth, who missed the game because of a death in the family. The junior made six saves, including one with a quick dive to the far post with less than two minutes to play in the first half.
“That would have been 3-2,” Jenkins said.
The Terriers now go back to playing their fellow AA squads, starting with a matchup against Long Island dynamo St. Anthony’s Friday. Jenkins thinks his team needs to be more aggressive overall, but is happy to be heading in off a strong performance.
“It will put them at the top of their thinking,” he said. “… You have to think you are better than the other team.”
Reach Joseph Staszewski at jstaszewski@nypost.com.
