Seaford girls soccer's Grace Cullingford scores with 12.9 seconds to deliver Long Island Class A title
Seaford with its championship plaque after winning the Long Island Class A girls soccer title at Farmingdale State College on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026. Credit: Derrick Dingle
Just because Grace Cullingford isn’t usually the spotlight, it doesn’t mean she isn’t built for it. The junior is a central defensive midfielder for Seaford, who had only scored three goals entering Thursday’s Long Island Class A girls soccer championship game.
With the clock winding down, Cullingford took a pass from Georgina Deros and dribbled ahead, setting up a shot from 30 yards out. Cullingford swung her left leg and watched her rocket of a shot track toward the crossbar.
Dink.
Cullingford’s shot tipped the bottom of the crossbar and ricocheted in for the go-ahead goal with 12.9 seconds left in Seaford’s 2-1 win over Mount Sinai.
“I knew there were about 15 seconds left and I just had to shoot it no matter how far I was,” Cullingford said. “It felt like a good shot off my foot. Everyone tells me I need to shoot more, so it’s really special for that to happen. I’ll never forget that moment.”
“Grace does a lot of the grunt work,” coach Ken Botti said. “She’s blue collar to the bone, works her tail off and is super talented. I love seeing her get offensive and seeing the spotlight shine on her right now. She really deserves it.”
It’s Seaford’s second Long Island title and first since 2022.
Seaford (13-4-2) will return to Farmingdale State to face Section I champion Rye in the Southeast regional final at 3 p.m. on Sunday. A win would vault the Vikings into next weekend’s state semifinals at Cortland University.
Zoe Qosa gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead with 36:04 left in the second half when her 25-yard shot headed toward the middle of the net but deflected off a defender and snuck inside the left post.
Seaford maintained possession for much of the remainder of the game.
But Mount Sinai’s Sophia Albertina blocked a clear out attempt with her chest and followed the ricochet into the box and tapped in the tying goal with 4:02 remaining.
“The emotions were high, but I just wanted to calm everyone down,” Qosa said. “They tied the game. We still had time to get a goal back.”
“We were a little deflated after giving up that goal when we were dominating for most of the game,” Botti said. “I give the girls all the credit in the world to keep going forward. They’re tough as nails.”
Charlotte Laraque made 10 saves for Mount Sinai (15-3-1).
“She’s an amazing goalie,” Cullingford said. “We had a lot of good chances that she saved. I thought she was going to get a hand on my shot at the end.”
Thankfully for the Vikings, Cullingford’s shot was just out of reach.
Matt Lindsay is a high school sports reporter who joined Newsday in 2022 after graduating from Stony Brook University.
