Cold Spring Harbor flag football's Ciara Luparello finds Serena Glantz for winning TD in Nassau 'C' final
Camryn Woodworth, left, and Emma Antoniello of Cold Spring Harbor hold up their victory plaque while Ciara Luparello applauds after defeating East Rockaway during the Nassau Class C flag football final on Saturday, May 23, 2026 at Long Island University in Brookville. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Trailing by a point, the Cold Spring Harbor flag football team desperately needed a play with two seconds left and a title on the line.
So, coach Jon Mendreski told his quarterback, Ciara Luparello, to make one.
And she got the job done.
On the final snap of the Nassau Class C title game, Luparello lobbed a 9-yard pass to Serena Glantz in the back of the end zone - a game-winning touchdown in top-seeded Cold Spring Harbor's 18-13 victory over No. 3 East Rockaway at LIU's Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium Saturday afternoon in Brookville.
"When I first saw the ball in the air I was thinking, I have to catch this," Glantz said. "When I caught it, I didn't know what to feel. I was shaking and I was so excited."
"It's a play we run all the time," Mendreski said. "I wanted to run something we were comfortable with. They were confident, and they executed it."
The win gave Cold Spring Harbor its first title in program history. Cold Spring Harbor will face the winner of Wednesday's Shoreham-Wading River/Kings Park game in the Class C Long Island championship game, scheduled for 2 p.m. May 30 at LIU.
"We've learned so much," Glantz said. "We improved so much from last year, and for us to make it happen in our [program's] second year, I can only say I look forward to the future."
The Seahawks were trailing 13-0 entering the fourth quarter after East Rockaway's Ava Caradonna and Danilynn Fardella both ran for touchdowns. Luparello scored on touchdown runs of 36 and 2 yards in the fourth to put her team in game-winning position .
"I told everyone we were going to win this game," Luparello said. "I put my mind to it and just ran."
After Luparello's two-yard TD, East Rockaway's Dayanara Jose Merino made a stop on the conversion to maintain a 13-12 lead with 3:02 remaining.
On the final drive, East Rockaway (10-6) committed a penalty with 54 seconds left, which kept the Seahawks in the game.
"Everybody wanted to win," Luparello said. "There's a lot of passion, and we have amazing coaches who believed in us, and I knew were capable of pulling this one out."
Luparello had 228 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. Glantz had nine flag pulls and Emma Antoniello had six for Cold Spring Harbor (14-3).
"I couldn't be more happy," Antoniello said. "We made history for our school, and the feeling is surreal."
Merino had 10 flag pulls and Caradonna had 127 rushing yards on 21 carries for the Rocks.
Mendreski and East Rockaway coach Fred Cange praised the Rocks for their effort.
"I tip my hat off to them," Mendreski said. "They came in with energy and gave it their all."
"We had a strong season," Cange said. "Next year we will be back stronger than ever."
Jonathan Ruban covers high school sports for Newsday after graduating from St. John’s.
