Authors Posts by Steven Zaitz

Steven Zaitz

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By Steven Zaitz

In April 2023, the Northport flag football franchise began its existence somewhat inauspiciously at Half Hollow Hills East High School, dropping its first game ever, 33-6 to a Hills team that would eventually win the Suffolk County championship.

Fast forward to May of this year and the Lady Tigers lost again to the Thundercolts, by a similar score of 40-7 on the very same field — their season ending with a loud and ugly thud.

As the Lady Tigers now watch Hills, Whitman, Hauppauge and others fight it out for Suffolk supremacy for the second year in a row, it may seem to some that this team has been on a treadmill of futility for the past 13 months.

That’s not even close to the way the members of this team see it.

“The level of understanding and execution is night and day from one year ago,” said Northport head coach Pat Campbell.  “We had 11 returning players from 2023 and we have some talented and committed athletes. I think the program is getting stronger.”

The numbers back Campbell up. Northport won nine games this year versus the team’s four in 2023. 

After losing to top-ranked Walt Whitman on April 10 in this season’s third game, the Lady Tigers strung together seven consecutive wins and their offense averaged 34 points a game during that stretch. They won a postseason game for the first time in team history, a 19-14 win over Sachem East, before being rolled over by the powerful Hills team in the second round. 

Quarterback Grace Gilmartin has established herself as one of the premiere signal callers on Long Island and she is only a sophomore. Gilmartin, who battled bouts of inconsistency as a freshman in 2023, led Suffolk County in total yardage with 3,055. She also had 34 total touchdowns, compared to only seven last year.

“Grace is as good as anyone,” said Campbell succinctly of his quarterback, who was named to the all-Suffolk County team. Gilmartin’s 2,108 passing yards was third in Suffolk and only 143 yards behind Half Hollow Hills fellow sophomore quarterback Samantha Heyman.

On this day, Heyman led the Thundercolts past Northport with 300 yards of total offense and four touchdown passes. She was in total control of her offense, as Hills marched down the field on their first drive that included a 40-yard bomb from Heyman to wide-receiver Rose Azmoudeh. Heyman closed the scoring late in the second half with a spinning, 25-yard touchdown run. In between, it was much of the same, as Hills used a dazzling display of gadget plays and exotic formations to snap off chunk plays from virtually start to finish. Hills recorded eight plays of 20 yards or more to advance to the county semi-final vs. Whitman.

Northport star linebacker, running back and punt returner Hazel Carlson was disappointed with the loss and her defense’s inconsistent ability to stop Heyman, but she loves her team and its direction.

“We are a group of girls with a common purpose,” said Carlson, who, along with Gilmartin and wide-receiver/defensive-back Sarah Power, was named to the all-county team. “We became a sisterhood, starting from last season and into this year. We cheer and respect each other, learn from our mistakes and we will take that into next year to get even better.”

Carlson, also a sophomore, was in the top 10 in both interceptions and flag pulls in the county and is one of the vocal leaders of the team. She also chipped in 900 yards of total offense. 

“Hazel is the heart and soul of our team,” said Campbell. “She is driven to succeed, has tremendous pride, and competes for every play. She is the best defensive player I have seen.”

High praise from one of the most respected football voices on Long Island, but Carlson shares these flowers with her mates.

“The outcomes are not because of one player, but more so the bond and trust that we have for each other, that allows us to succeed.”

One of her successful teammates, Power, scored the lone Tiger touchdown against Hills and she is already excited for next season.

“I’m so grateful to be a part of this team from its inception,” said Power. “I am looking forward to helping grow the program with coach Campbell and coach Marinelli, who are so knowledgeable and great mentors.”

Power was fourth in the county with 830 yards receiving and she had 12 touchdowns. Fellow receiver Meghan Ronan was named as an all-division player. Pass rusher Caroline Bender and defensive back Kate Pitfick, who had seven interceptions, were also recognized as all-division stand-outs.

“We have a lot of enthusiasm coming up from the middle schools in Northport and I think we will attract more athletes going forward,” said Campbell. “The passion is high and my expectations for the girls are very high. I know that in the future, they will be prepared to meet those expectations.”

By Steven Zaitz

It’s a good news and bad news scenario for the Northport Lady Tiger flag football team.

Starting with good news, they clinched a playoff berth for the first time in team history and finished the year with an 8-4 record equaling a marked improvement from 2023 when they were 4-4-1.

After losing to Walt Whitman on April 10, the Lady Tigers strung together seven wins in a row, averaged 32.4 points a game during that stretch, and established themselves as a major factor on the Suffolk County flag football scene.

But that pesky bad news — in dropping their final two games of the season to North Babylon and Connetquot, scoring nary a point in either contest, Northport dropped to the eighth seed in the playoff tournament bracket and needed to win a play-in game against No. 9 Sachem East — which they did 19-14. Their reward? A date with the mighty and unbeaten Half Hollow Hills combined squad that has not lost a league game all year and has outscored its opponents 287-69. And oh yeah, the Lady T-Birds are the defending Suffolk County champs.

On a windy Saturday afternoon at Connetquot in Islandia, Tiger sophomore quarterback Grace Gilmartin, who has played brilliantly during the Tigers winning streak, was 9 for 26 for 82 yards and 2 interceptions. The second pick, by Connetquot linebacker Lilia Weeks, occurred late in the game and deep in Northport territory. Lady Thunderbird running back Ines Ruiz took an option pitch from quarterback Makayla Morganelli on the very next play 10 yards for the only score of the game. The final was 6-0.

Many of Gilmartin’s passes were knocked down or blown off course by the gusty wind in what was predictably a low-scoring affair for both sides – and is so often the case, the team that makes the biggest mistake ends up on the losing end. On this day, the pick by Weeks in the last five minutes of the game represented this mistake.

Connetquot played spoiler and they finished 3-4-2 and out of the playoffs. Northport has cleared its first hurdle with its playoff win against the Flaming Arrows. The next one against Half Hollow Hills will be higher.

By Steven Zaitz

Top Soccer, the outreach program of U.S. Soccer, or “Special Soccer” is a community-based program for young athletes with disabilities, designed to bring the opportunity of learning and playing soccer to any boy or girl.

The Smithtown Kickers Top Soccer program is one of the largest of its kind in the region. It is led by Ernesto Cabello, powered by a group of amazing volunteers and is available to all children with special needs. 

Its special Saturday soccer program runs for nine weeks during the fall and spring seasons.  

These programs are provided free of charge by the Smithtown Kickers Youth League and Cabello and his staff are very proud of what they have built over the last 15 years for this program.

Bob Kinney, Maryann Passeggiata, and Jodi Feinne help Cabello run the program, which uses local kids with soccer backgrounds, known as buddies, to help guide its participants through drills and games.

“Bob has been here from the beginning and has grown the program from about 12 kids to the 70 that we have now,” said Cabello. “He is a saint.”

For more information on volunteering for this vital program visit, www.smithtownkickers.com/Default.aspx?tabid=843309

By Steven Zaitz

The unstoppable Northport Lady Tigers lacrosse express rolled over its most recent opponent, the Walt Whitman Wildcats, 17-4 on Monday, April 29.

Under twilight skies and a small spit of raindrops, Northport stormed out to an 8-0 lead after the first quarter as sophomore attacker Kate Atkinson had two goals and three assists. Senior offensive machine Julia Huxtable, lurking around her office behind the net, benefited from Atkinson’s generosity with two goals, as did fellow senior Christina Lauro, who had two goals in the first 12 minutes — Atkinson assisted on one of those as well.

Senior midfielder Kennedy Radziul won 84% of her faceoffs and was blazing up and down the center of the field, controlling the ball and the tempo of the game. Northport dominated in the time of possession by an almost 2:1 margin.

Radziul had two goals from in close, the first of which came with just one second remaining in the first half, giving the Tigers an 11-1 lead.

Atkinson had four goals and four assists for the game, her teammate Huxtable had three goals and freshman phenom Riley Cash also had three for the game. Legendary coach Carol Rainson-Rose substituted liberally in the second half. Senior Kayleen Mulry came off the bench to net a pair and freshman Meg Florio got one with three minutes left in the game to finish out the scoring.

Northport, the reigning county champion, is now 10-0 in league play. Its last loss to a division opponent was almost a year ago, on May 5, 2023, to Commack. The Tigers faced those same Lady Cougars on May 1, but the results of that match were not available at press time. 

Northport and Commack are both 10-0 and leading Suffolk Division I with William Floyd and Ward Melville a game behind at 9-1, as these four superpowers careen toward the playoffs. After their Tiger-Cougar catfight, only three games remain in the regular season.

By Steven Zaitz

It was all smiles for the Northport flag football team during their pre-game warmup before facing Harborfields on April 19.

The sun was shining, it was the Friday afternoon before spring break, and the Lady Tigers were coming off their third straight win – a dominating 32-12 destruction of crosstown Commack. 

With the second-division Tornados coming to town, Northport was poised to win their fourth game in a row and inch closer to the playoffs in their second year of existence. 

But then the game started.

On the very first play from scrimmage, Harborfields quarterback Kate Lysaght hit receiver Scarlet Carey with a short pass in the left flat. 

Carey dodged two Northport defenders, cut to the middle of the field, and in a flash, was gone. It was a 60-yard touchdown catch and run and it put the Tigers in an immediate 6-0 hole. The smiles, so bright and omnipresent on the Northport sideline just seconds before, were suddenly gone.

“She [Carey] is very fast, but we had a few chances to grab her flag on that play, but we just missed it,” said Northport head coach Pat Campbell. “We work on grabbing that flag in practice and we have gotten a lot better at it, but not on that play.”

The Tigers, anxious to counter, spent most of the first half moving the ball and picking up first downs but they had nothing to show for it. 

Blossoming superstar quarterback Grace Gilmartin, a sophomore, is leading all of Long Island in total yardage with 2,056. But she couldn’t punch it in after a long drive on the Tiger’s first possession and threw an interception in the Tornado end zone with five and half minutes to go in the half. 

“We’ve learned that it’s very hard to score in flag football.” said Campbell. “It’s 20 yards for a first down and you need to convert on explosive plays. For most of that first half, we couldn’t do that.”

Most of the half – but not all.

With under two minutes left in the half, the Lady Tigers faced a third down from the Harborfields 20. Gilmartin dropped back and just as she was about to be sacked, found center Nina Corbett,  short over the middle. Corbett reached up high and caught the very back end of the ball and collected herself, Deceptively quick, Corbett ran away from Carey, cut to her right, and scampered past Tornado defensive-back Annie Aguilar at the pylon for a touchdown. Northport wide-receiver Sarah Power converted the extra point that gave the Lady Tigers a 7-6 lead. They would never look back, dominate the second half, and win the game 27-6.

“Grace got rushed but we were able to connect just before they got to her,” said the sophomore Corbett. “She is always able to make the tough throw under pressure or run when she has to. That was a huge play and I was really excited when I realized I scored to tie the game.”

Corbett, who is almost always smiling, finally gave the home team and their fans a reason to do the same. It was her second touchdown of the year.

“Nina’s smile is contagious,” said three-way star and captain Hazel Carlson. “Her touchdown was very important for our team and brought us so much energy for the rest of the game.“

Carlson, who plays middle linebacker, receiver and punt returner, had 27 combined flag pulls in the games against Commack and Harborfields. The sophomore is the orchestrator of the Tiger defense that allowed next to nothing after the Tornados blew in for their early touchdown. She also had 54 yards of offense and a 42-yard punt return.  Carlson is in the Suffolk County top ten in both rushing and receiving on offense, and in flag pulls on defense. 

“Hazel is exceptional,” said Campbell. “She sees the ball carrier and always takes the right path. She plays on all three phases of the game, always plays hard, and is just fun to watch.”

Also fun to watch is the evolution of Gilmartin as a quarterback. Last year as a freshman, her information processing and decision-making was, well, freshman-like. There is a stark difference in her play in 2024. She has mastered the run-pass-option X and is playing with much more confidence and zeal.

“This year, Grace is as good a thrower of the football as there is in the county,” said Campbell. “When she sets he feet and squares her shoulders, she throws darts.”

Gilmartin has a quarterback rating of 100.8 after the Harborfields win; a very good number and a 25-point improvement over 2023.

“The more games I play, the more I’ve become aware of what is a good throw and what is not,” said the lead-by-example Gilmartin. “I feel more comfortable with my decisions this year.”

Another change for the Tigers this year is the addition of defensive back Kate Pitfick, who is tied for the county lead with six interceptions. Along with Carlson, right cornerback Dana Restivo, outside linebacker Stephanie Milanos, and pass rushers Caroline Bender and Ella Laposta, the Northport defense has been virtually leak-proof. They have given up an average of seven and a half points a game over the last four contests.

The senior Pitfick is happy she decided to play flag football this year.

“The girls and coaches are all amazing and made me feel so welcomed.” said Pitfick. “I played football in the street with my brothers growing up and they usually stuck me on defense.  I owe a lot to them.”

 Power had nine catches for 141 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown, and two extra points. She is second on Long Island in receiving with 576 yards. She also has the second-most extra point conversions with seven, Gilmartin had 300 yards of total offense against Harborfields and accounted for three touchdowns. Gilmartin and Pitfick also had long touchdowns in the second half and Campbell finally had plenty of the explosive plays he was looking for.

“It feels great to be part of a winning team,” said Pitfick. I’ve made such great friends during this time.”

With their fourth straight win and their first-ever playoff berth a developing possibility, Pitfick, and her Lady Tiger friends, have great reason to smile.

By Steven Zaitz

The Northport boys lacrosse team powered past the Bulls of Smithtown East on April 18 by a score of 10-3.

They are now a sparkling 8-1 on the season with their victory over Bay Shore on April 20 and have won five straight games. Smithtown East drops to 3-6.

Attacker Jack Deliberti and midfielder Luca Elmaleh had three goals apiece and midfielder Quinn Reynolds had a goal and two assists for the first-place and defending Suffolk County champion Tigers. Cameron James had a pair of goals for the Bulls.

Deliberti got the party started two minutes into the game with his sixteenth goal of the year, firing a sharp-angle rip from the left wing. It stayed that way until Deliberti bounced another one past All-Suffolk Bull goalkeeper Brendan Carroll from 10 yards away with 1:30 to go in the first period. Elmahleh finished a nearly-flawless quarter for Northport, scoring with 47 seconds left.

The second quarter started just like the first when a Smithtown turnover turned into a goal for long pole middie Giancarlo Valenti. Faceoff artist Dylan Baumgarth won 75% of his draws in the first half and one of his wins led to Reynolds’ goal and Northport built a 5-0 lead. Luke DiMaria and James Scored for East to slice it 5-2 at half, but they would never get any closer.

Northport traveled to Bay Shore on April 20 capturing a 9-3 win. The Tigers next game will take place on April 26 when they will travel to Patchogue-Medford. 

Smithtown East won 10-9 against South Fork High School on April 20 and played Huntington yesterday, but results were not available at press time.

By Steven Zaitz

The Ward Melville boys lacrosse team must know what Sisyphus felt like.

On Friday, April 12, against their most hated rival – reigning county champion Northport – the Patriots muscled that boulder up the side of “Tiger Mountain” time and time again, but couldn’t quite reach the summit, as Northport held on for an emotion-churning 10-9 win.

After opening up a 4-1 after one quarter, Northport fended off Ward Melville’s furious rallies on three separate occasions, as the Pats closed to 4-3 in the opening minutes of the second quarter, all but wiped out a five-goal in the fourth quarter, and almost wiped out a very late 10-7 deficit.

But the green and gold were never able to tie it. Northport has now beaten Ward Melville six times in a row.

Midfielder Quinn Reynolds got the scoring started in a hurry when he took the opening faceoff, raced down the right sideline, and sniped one past Patriot goalkeeper Davon DiFede barely a minute into the game. Logan Cash buried one from the middle and Tim McLam slithered inside to score. Northport was up 3-0 just like that.

Attacker Jack Deliberti, who is in the top 30 in goal scoring in Suffolk County, scored two before halftime as the Tigers had a 5-3 lead at the break. Quinn McKay, Madden Murphy, and Ben Ehlers, all non-starters, tallied for Ward Melville in the first half to keep them in striking distance.

And strike they would.

Zachery Brittman, who is a starter, scored three goals in the second half, the third of which brought the Patriots to within one.

Northport was staggered but had enough to offer a counterpunch. Giancarlo Valenti, a defender by trade, picked off the scraps of a faceoff, stormed up the middle, and put Northport up by two with six minutes to go. Midfielder Luca Elmaleh followed up for the Tigers to give them a three-goal lead with four and a half to go. 

Game over, right?

Wrong.

Middie Aidan Kilduff scored from in close against Tiger goalkeeper Quinn Napolitano – who notched 12 saves for the game – with just under two minutes remaining. Attackman Stephen Rosano scored another for the Pats with five ticks remaining – but it wasn’t quite enough. Until they break this skid against the Tigers, the boulder they tote will get heavier and heavier. 

It was the first conference loss for Ward Melville which is now 4-1 in league play. Northport is 5-1 and played another of its most bitter rivals, Commack (4-1) on April 16. All three of these teams are jockeying near the top of the table in Suffolk Division I play as the season nears the midpoint.

Half Hollow Hills was in first at 6-0 and is the only undefeated team in the league.

– Photos by Steven Zaitz

By Steven Zaitz

Northport and Smithtown East met in a dual boys track meet on April 16 and the visiting Tigers came out on top 76-42.

There were impressive performances on both sides as the athletes participated in the broad gamut of track and field events.

Sprinter Vito LaRosa blazed his way to an 11.0 second win in the 100-meter dash for the Tigers and his teammate Duke Sarnataro earned second at 11.6 seconds. 

In the 400-meter race, Northport placed first, second, and third. Gabe Ko led the pack with a time of 52.8, followed by LaRosa and Brayan Negoescu.

Northport also swept the shot put with Mason Hecht hurling the heavy ball 44’ 9”. Matt Lugo was second with a throw of 42’ 11” and Declan Semo was third with a toss of 39’ 8”. Hecht and Semo went one-two in the discus with Matt Swist finishing third in a dominating throwing competition by the Tigers. Hecht’s leaden-frisbee went over 149 feet.

Alex Toran ran an impressive 2:02 flat in the 800-meter to win. Tim Kropp breezed his way to a victory in the 3200-meter in under 11 minutes. Finn Sweeney won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 65.2 seconds.

For the Bulls, nationals qualifier in the high jump, Braden McCormick, tried his hand – and his feet – in the triple jump and won with a measurement of 40’ 7.5”. His teammate, Kaelan Suekamling, took second place. Suekamling won gold in the long jump with a leap of over 19 feet.

Dester Cuomo won the 100-meter race in a speedy 4:48 and was second in the 400-meter hurdles as well.

Many of these fine athletes will be participating in the Coaches Invitational meet with participants from across Suffolk County. The meet will be held at Commack High School on Saturday, April 20.

By Steven Zaitz

Most times, a harmless looking “1-3” in the scorebook isn’t the most impactful play in a baseball game.

But with the Northport Tigers clinging to a skinny, one-run lead in the bottom of the 5th inning against Smithtown East on Thursday night, that 1-3 became a lucky 13.

Relief pitcher Vincent Staub entered the game in a bit of a mess. Smithtown East had already scored two runs in the frame and had cut a 5-1 Tiger lead to 5-3. Staub allowed an RBI single to short-stop Evan Schickler that brought the Bulls to within one.

After Schickler stole second base, the tying and go-ahead runs were on second and third.

East third-baseman Ryan Diffley hit a sharp one-hopper back to Staub, who managed to deflect the ball towards the first base foul line. Staub scampered off the mound and flipped the ball to Tiger first-baseman Dylan Sofarelli just in time to beat Diffley to the bag.

Northport retained its lead and Staub would finish the game, retiring the side in order in the sixth and seventh for a 5-4 win.

Liam Ryan, who pitched a courageous 4 ⅔ innings, recorded his second win of the year. He and Staub combined to pitch a no-hitter against Centereach in the season opener and are proving to be quite a one-two punch for Sean Lynch’s Tigers who improved to 3-1 with this win.

Northport jumped out to 4-0 lead with two in the first and a loud two-RBI double in the third off the bat of second-baseman Thomas Hardick. Sofarelli drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to make it 5-1, but Northport had the bases loaded with nobody out after that, but did not plate anybody else.

Ryan, who is making his debut in the starting rotation this year, was effective through his 4 2/3, retiring the side in order in the fourth. But he tired in the fifth, setting up Staub’s houdini act to rescue him and the Tigers. The duo combined to strike out six Bulls.

The two teams moved west on Friday night and East got a measure of revenge with a 7-0 win. Northport is 3-2 on the year and Smithtown East 3-1. The Tigers will face North Babylon next week for three games and East will play Centereach.

– Photos by Steve Zaitz

Newfield’s Riley Firenze tries to score on a wild pitch as Northport pitcher Jamie Gould covers the plate. Photo by Steven Zaitz

By Steven Zaitz

Getting off the bus, deuces were not very wild for the Newfield softball team last Friday.

The Wolverines dropped their first two games by a combined score of 20-6 and were in an early 2-0 hole against Northport on the road. It has been a full trip around the sun of futility for the Lady Wolverines as they had lost 14 games in a row dating back to last season — a streak that started exactly one year prior,  April 5, 2023 with a 12-9 loss to crosstown Centereach.

To make matters worse, the Wolverines ran themselves out of a potential big inning in the first when they had runners on first and third with no outs but failed to score.

But a three-run third, ignited by ninth-place hitter Emily Wall, gave Newfield its first lead of the season. The very long and ugly worm that was this 14-game losing streak was starting to turn. 

Senior starting pitcher Riley Firenze, who wears the number two on her back, shut the Lady Tigers down for the rest of the game, allowing only two hits after the second inning and striking out four. Newfield tacked on four runs late and secured a 7-2 victory – their first since starting the 2023 season 2-0.

“Getting this win was tremendous for our team and for the future of this season,” said Wolverine head coach Amanda Catapano. “Sometimes all it takes is that one win to get back into the groove and back to playing the softball that we know our girls can play.”

In addition to her monumental mound work, Firenze was the hitting star of the game. She had two doubles and a triple against Lady Tiger starting pitcher Jamie Gould. 

“I enjoy watching our team work hard,” said Firenze. “We are growing and improving every day.”

Despite taking the losses against Lindenhurst and Connetquot, Firenze’s stuff was on-point against the Tigers.

“Riley was locked-down on the mound after allowing those two early runs,” said Catapano. “She showed great speed and spin on the mound and she and Teresa Cotty called a wonderful game behind the plate helping to keep Northport batters on their heels using many off-speed pitches at the perfect times.”

Cotty, the cleanup-hitting catcher, had two hits and two RBIs on the day.

For Northport, only two of Gould’s runs allowed were earned, but she dealt with a lot of traffic on the basepaths, giving up 11 hits. 

Left Fielder Lilly McCabe had a two-RBI single that knocked in Jillian Ryan and Gabby Smith-Centero. 

Gabby Weissman had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning and Kiera Murphy made a sparkling play in right field to end the third inning. 

The Tigers had another setback on Saturday against West Babylon, but they hope to eclipse their three-game skid on Monday against Smithtown East. Newfield plays on Thursday against Sachem North, looking for two wins in a row. 

– Photos by Steven Zaitz