The entire St. Francis Prep girls tennis team huddled together by the Court 13 bench for what top singles player Katie DeRienzo described as “a little group cry.” Coach John Brennan came over to console his players after congratulating jubilant Leon Goldstein and losing his first match 13 years after he took over the program.
After 12 Mayor’s Cup crowns and 203 straight victories, the Terriers streak came to an end in the Mayor’s Cup final at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing on Sunday. Goldstein, the two-time PSAL champion which nearly ended the run in this exact match last June, pulled out a dramatic, 3-2 victory behind its first doubles team’s gutty three-set victory.
“It was kind of a shocker, but it’s OK,” DeRienzo said. “It was gonna end eventually. It wasn’t going to go on forever.”
Nicole Druzhinsky and Maria Shabashkevich came back from a set down, a 2-love deficit in the final set and withstood a brief rain delay to clinch the crown, topping St. Francis’ Samantha Rosco-Sipot and Rossella Scarpa, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“It’s elating,” said Goldstein coach Victoria D’Orazio, who is retiring from coaching. “I don’t know if I’m going to go to sleep tonight.”
It came down to that final match. DeRienzo shocked Goldstein star Becky Shtilkind in first singles, 6-4, 6-3, but the Dolphins’ Destina Grunin and Elizabeth Tsvetkov prevailed in second and third singles, respectively.
St. Francis’ Alana Davidson and Paula Faltynowicz took home a straight-set victory over Goldstein’s Ruta Pranaityte and Kim Salkin, setting up the dramatic first doubles showdown. St. Francis won the first set, and was down 4-3 in the second set before rain delayed the match 30 minutes. When play resumed, Druzhinsky and Shabashkevich came storming out of the gate and took the second set. They trailed by two games early, but rebounded to stop the bleeding as Druzhinsky held serve.
“That third game was crucial,” Brennan said. “If they got up 3-love, the other team may have checked out.”
Druzhinsky and Shabashkevich are an unorthodox double pair as neither plays at the net. The baseliners were consistent, forcing St. Francis mistakes – the kind of play that has often been a St. Francis trademark. Druzhinsky clinched the title, ripping an inside-out forehand past Rosco-Sipot.
Shrieks from Goldstein soon ensued and the entire team engulfed Druzhinsky and Shabashkevich in a big hug by the net.
“There were no nerves at all,” Shabashkevich said. “We ignored all the cheering and played our game.”
Goldstein nearly topped St. Francis in the Mayor’s Cup finals last year, too, but fell a match short. History didn’t repeat itself on Sunday, however.
“It means a lot,” Shabashkevich said. “We improved a lot, we played a lot of matches. It’s awesome to beat St. Francis Prep.”
Brennan knew this day was coming, if not Sunday then next year. He loses his top three singles players and his top doubles player. Goldstein returned its entire team from last year. Brennan, in fact, said prior to the match he felt the Dolphins were the slight favorite. He left the National Tennis Center disappointed, disappointed the steak had come to an end, disappointed with the defeat, but not disappointed in his players.
“They gave 100-percent effort,” said Brennan, a two-time cancer survivor. “They came up a little short.”
They continued the tradition which began when he took over the program 13 years ago. They played their hardest and toughest and handled themselves with class, which is all he has ever asked of his players.
After the final point, Brennan didn’t move. He wasn’t sure how to react.
“I don’t know how to feel,” he said. “It hasn’t happened. It felt strange, but that shows how long it’s been. I don’t like it. If I liked losing, we wouldn’t have gotten to this point. But you have to accept it. We lost to a good team. Those girls earned it.
“I guess 13,” he added, “is an unlucky number.”