The Harrison Huskies may have come into their Class C first round playoff tilt with Nanuet expecting a stiff challenge from the No. 12-seeded Golden Knights, but few could have expected that the game would end up as 40-goal dogfight. But on May 17, the No. 6 Huskies needed scoring—and heaps of it—to down their first postseason challengers, advancing to the quarterfinals with a 22-17 win. 

Tuesday’s game marked the first time all season that the Huskies (11-6) topped the 20-goal mark, but head coach Deirde O’Brien said it didn’t take too long to see exactly what kind of contest this one was shaping up to be.

“We didn’t know much [about Nanuet] coming in, but it was pretty clear right from the the first five minutes,” said O’Brien. “There were a lot of early goals, and anytime you see a score as 10-10 at halftime, you know you’re on pace for 20 goals.”

The two teams traded runs through the first half—and in the early parts of the second—before Harrison began to take over with a solid eight-minute stretch towards the midway point of the home stretch that put the Huskies on top for good.. O’Brien noted that ball possession played a big role in the Huskies’ surge, as did the inspired play on the offensive end, notably from Caitlin Oestreicher, who paced the team with seven goals. 

“Draw controls were huge and we had a couple of girls step up on the offensive end,” said O’Brien. “[Caitlin] is a tremendous leader, she knows when to be patient with the ball and when she needs to go and take it to the goal,”

Oestreicher may have been Harrison’s top scorer, but the unselfish play on the offensive end was also a key factor in the Huskies’ strong offensive showing. Lila Berkery chipped in six goals for the Huskies, while Stella Perini added give goals and won a team-high 12 draw controls. Goalie Mariana Sposato made six stops in net to preserve the Harrison win. 

Although Harrison enjoyed a successful regular season this year, the team came into the playoffs in the midst of a five-game losing streak that stretched back to April 30. Given the stiff nature of the late-season competition (Harrison’s opponents over the last five games had a combined 59-21 record), O’Brien felt that her girls would be prepared for anything come the postseason.

“That’s kind of how the schedule played out, we had to play the hardest teams late and that was going to lead us into right into the playoffs,” she said.  “They’ve been through a lot, so I think trying to come out hard and knowing that they can do it is definitely what they’ve been working towards.”

With their first round win behind them, the Huskies will be looking to their quarterfinal opponent, No. 3 Byram Hills (12-4). The Bobcats were one of the teams that tripped Harrison up in that late season stretch, topping the Huskies in a 13-12 nail-biter on May 4. The two teams will square off again on May 20, after press time.

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