Sports

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Dana Husband leaps over the high-jump bar. Photo from SBU

Junior Dana Husband broke a 27-year-old outdoor program record in the women’s high jump as the Stony Brook track and field teams swept the Wolfie Invitational Saturday.

Husband cleared 5-8/1.73 meters to surpass the mark of 5-8/1.68 set by Sara Lechner in 1989. Her jump also achieved the ECAC standard in the event. Husband broke the indoor record earlier in 2016 at 5-8/1.70.

Sophomore Kaylyn Gordon also recorded an ECAC standard, as she won the women’s triple jump at 39-10.5/12.15. Gordon also finished second in the long jump with a mark of 17-11.0/5.46.

The Seawolves took the women’s team title with 226 points, 86 points ahead of second-place Quinnipiac University. The men’s squad finished first with 199 points, 62 clear of second-place Sacred Heart University.

“We asked everyone to come with a competitive attitude to this meet, and for the most part that is what we got,” Stony Brook head coach Andy Ronan said. “Overall, on a decent weather day, we got a lot done individually and team wise.”

Senior Kate Pouder won the women’s 1,500 in 4 minutes, 34.97 seconds, and sophomore Jane Clark captured the women’s 800 in 2:13.69.

“Dana’s and Kaylyn’s performances were backed up by good runs from Kate Pouder and Jane Clark,” Ronan said.

Senior Gabe Vazquez won the men’s 1,500 in 4:00.12, and sophomore Michael Watts took the men’s 3,000 in 8:38.97.

The quartet of Gordon and freshmen Sarah Militano, Chinque Thompson and Nikki Fogarty won the women’s 4×100 relay in 47.36 seconds.

Thompson (25.15) and freshman Nailah Jones  (25.19) grabbed the top two spots in the women’s 200.

Seniors Raven Dorsey  (18:01.99) and Tara Peck (18:11.87) took the top two spots in the women’s 5,000.

The Seawolves took the top five spots in the women’s 100, led by Thompson (12.04), Fogarty (12.31),  Gordon (12.33) and freshman McKyla Brooks (12.33). Brooks (18-10.0/5.74), Gordon (17-11.0/5.46) and Jones (17-10.25/5.44) took the top three spots in the women’s long jump.

Senior Mitchell Kun and sophomore Dan Galford finished first and second in the men’s 5,000, respectively. Kun won the event in 15:05.84, with Galford behind at 15:19.58. Freshman Wayne Williams won the  400 in 49.25. Sophomore Darian Sorouri took the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:52.96.

The Seawolves captured the top three spots in the men’s triple jump, with freshman Izzy Matthew at 43-3.0/13.18, freshman Bradley Pierre at 42-11.75/13.10 and freshman Brendon Alerte at 41-11.50/12.79.

Freshman Yanik Martin won the men’s long jump with a leap of 21-11.75/6.70, while Pierre took third with 21-1.50/6.44.

The Seawolves are Philadelphia through Saturday for the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania.

Centereach's Sean McGuinness scoops up an infield dribbler. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

With rain coming down, Centereach took to the field against Huntington and the Blue Devils stepped into the batter’s box first for a League IV baseball matchup Tuesday afternoon in Centereach.

Huntington's Luke Eidle releases a fastball. Photo by Bill Landon
Huntington’s Luke Eidle releases a fastball. Photo by Bill Landon

Huntington (1-11 in conference play) struck first when, on a Centereach throwing error, Brian Donnelly crossed the plate for the first run of the game.

Centereach’s Victor Corsaro doubled, representing the tying run in the bottom of the inning, and teammate Kyle Cerbone ripped one through the gap to even the score with two outs.

The rain grew steady though, and when the umpire behind the plate charged the infield to cover the ensuing play, he slipped and fell in deteriorating conditions.

“I saw him slip the first time and he warned me about the field conditions, and I said to him ‘we’ve had this conversation before,’” Centereach head coach Mike Herrschaft said. “This field can’t take a lot of rain and you can see how it’s getting slick out there at shortstop.”

Huntington managed to score another run in the top of the second to take a 2-1 lead, and the Cougars went back to work at the plate. Centereach (2-10) popped the ball up shallow in the infield and the plate umpire approached the play and fell a second time. The official was slow to get up. After a brief conference between both coaches, the umpires left Nick Corsaro in the batter’s box with his team trailing by one with two outs.

“The umpire called the game because of unsafe conditions on the field,” Huntington head coach Bill Harris said. “Where the field transitions to the grass, he slipped and fell.”

Centereach's Matt Hirsch hurls from the mound. Photo by Bill Landon
Centereach’s Matt Hirsch hurls from the mound. Photo by Bill Landon

The game was suspended after an inning and a half, so the balance of the game will be completed at a later date.

“I saw him slip the second time and he said he didn’t want to see one of the kids slip and get hurt,” Herrschaft said. “You can’t argue with that, but this is the first time I’ve known a game to be called because of unsafe conditions for the umpires. The kids are wearing spikes and the umpires are wearing sneakers.”

Herrschaft added that both teams will take the mound Friday afternoon for a scheduled matchup and then complete the suspended game for the doubleheader at home.

Centereach traveled to Huntington on Wednesday for game two of the three-game series, but results of that game were not available by press time.

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Rocky Point’s Sara Giammarella beats a swarm of players to the ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The team may be young, but Rocky Point girls’ lacrosse is mighty.

With 13 seconds left on the clock in sudden-death overtime, sophomore midfielder Madison Sanchez scored her fourth goal of Tuesday’s game to give the Eagles what is believed to be their program’s first win over Shoreham-Wading River in school history.

Shannon Maroney makes a save for Rocky Point. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shannon Maroney makes a save for Rocky Point. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“I thought, ‘I have to do this,’ I put my heart into it, I knew I needed to get it in, and I did,” Sanchez said of the final goal that gave her team the 10-9 victory. “Relief — that’s what it feels like. I’m speechless. It felt really good, especially considering we’ve never beat Shoreham before.”

As her team toppled her to the ground, there was another shining star for the Eagles out on the field being celebrated. Sophomore goalkeeper Shannon Maroney made 20 stops in goal, including one with three seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and another 30 seconds into the three-minute session.

“We were really great on defense and we moved the ball quick on offense,” she said. “We pulled for each other when we needed to. We came through when we needed the ball. We worked really hard today.”

Rocky Point (6-3 in Division II) struggled to win the draw all evening, but when the Eagles gained possession, they made it count. With 13:49 left in the game, Sanchez scored her hat trick goal when she gained possession at midfield and charged up to the front of the cage to put her team up by two, 8-6.

Shoreham-Wading River junior midfielder Sophia Triandafils wouldn’t let her team go down quietly though, scoring at the 12:16 mark and again at 6:27, after Maroney made back-to-back saves, to tie the game 8-8.

“We had sloppy moments on the field,” said Triandafils, who also added two assists. “It’s hard going against a team that has so many athletes like Rocky Point. You give them an inch and they take a mile, and here and there we gave them a few inches and we just couldn’t come back from it.”

Rocky Point’s Madison Sanchez is checked by Shoreham’s Jesse Arline. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Rocky Point’s Madison Sanchez is checked by Shoreham’s Jesse Arline. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Wildcats (7-3 in Division II) showed their resiliency, keeping within striking distance each time their opponent scored. Triandafils said her team just needs a little more work.

“We have some good glimpses here and there of the team that we could be,” she said. “We have so much potential on the team, and once we put together a full game, I think we can compete with anyone, play with anyone and beat anyone.”

Freshman attack and midfielder Brianna Lamoureux scored her second goal of the game with 39 seconds left in regulation to give Rocky Point a 9-8 lead, but Shoreham-Wading River’s Maddie Farron tied it up to force overtime just 10 seconds later.

The three minutes were almost up when Sanchez found the back of the net.

While the loss snapped Shoreham-Wading River’s seven-game win streak, the win keeps Rocky Point at the top of the league leaderboard, among undefeated Bayport-Blue Point and Mount Sinai and Eastport-South Manor.

Shoreham’s Sofia Triandafils and Rocky Point’s Christina Bellissimo fight for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Shoreham’s Sofia Triandafils and Rocky Point’s Christina Bellissimo fight for the loose ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

On April 28, Rocky Point travels to Harborfields (6-2 in Division II) at 4 p.m., while Shoreham-Wading River hosts Hauppauge (4-4 in Division II) at 4 p.m.

Although Rocky Point is still without its leading goal scorer in freshman midfielder Brianna Carrasquillo, who netted 34 goals in eight games this season, head coach Dan Spallina is looking forward to where his young team is taking him.

“This group is young, energetic, and there’s such a bond between them,” he said. “As a coach who’s been doing this for a long time, it’s something you can’t bring to the girls. They have to have it on their own, and they do. We’ve been talking about leadership and we’ve been talking about heart and for Maddie Sanchez to take that one-on-one and beat out a girl that should be up for All-American speaks to the type of player that she is. She’s kind of a pass-first kind of girl, but she deserves it. She deserves a win like this. They all do.”

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Junior catcher Kaitlyn Loffman tries to catch the low ball behind the plate. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Smithtown West protected a one-run lead until the sixth inning, when Brentwood scored three runs on a single play to take the lead, and scored an insurance run in the top of the seventh to notch the 4-1 nonleague softball win Monday afternoon.

Junior first baseman Kiley Magee reaches for the out. Photo by Bill Landon
Junior first baseman Kiley Magee reaches for the out. Photo by Bill Landon

The bats cracked on both sides, but each team left several runners on base, leaving the game scoreless through three and a half innings.

Brentwood threatened with runners on the corners with one out in the top of the fourth, and tried to steal second base, but Smithtown West junior catcher Kaitlyn Loffman fired a shot to eighth-grader Sarah Chapman, who cleanly tagged the runner for the second out of the inning.

“They’re in League I, but I thought we could’ve done more to help out the defense,” Loffman said. “On offense, we just have to pick better pitches to swing at.”

Brentwood stranded the lone runner and the Bulls went to work in the bottom of the fourth.

Smithtown West junior first baseman Kiley Magee’s bat cracked next as she found the gap for a lead-off single. Loffman, equally as dangerous in the batters’ box, ripped one deep down the left sideline that went to the fence, plating Magee as Loffman made it to third standing up. Unable to bring Loffman home, Smithtown West had to settle for a 1-0 lead to open the fifth inning.

Freshman utility player Gabrianna Lorefice fires the ball to first base. Photo by Bill Landon
Freshman utility player Gabrianna Lorefice fires the ball to first base. Photo by Bill Landon

“They’re pretty good, but I thought we could’ve played better,” Magee said. “We’ll work on playing better defense.”

Neither team could find the plate in the fifth, but the tables turned in the sixth inning as Brentwood’s first at batter drew a walk. The next, the go-ahead run, was hit by a pitch and took first base with two outs. The Indians followed with a base-clearing, stand-up double on an error for a 3-1 advantage.

With their backs against the wall, the Bulls threatened in the bottom of the inning when Loffman smacked a lead-off single, and was followed by junior pitcher Maria Caviris, who drove one into shallow left field for a base hit that represented the tying run at first. Smithtown squandered the opportunity though, leaving both runners on base to end the inning.

“We haven’t played them for a long time, but I know some of the players, so I had an idea [of how well they can hit],” Caviris said, adding that she thought she could’ve pitched better.

Although Smithtown was finished scoring, Brentwood was not, and an insurance run in the top of the seventh sealed the team’s fate.

Junior pitcher Maria Caviris fields the infield pop-up. Photo by Bill Landon
Junior pitcher Maria Caviris fields the infield pop-up. Photo by Bill Landon

“Years ago we faced them when we were one school, and played them regularly in League I,” Smithtown West head coach Dave Miller said. “This years’ schedule calls for mandatory nonleague games and that’s this game against them. We made way too many base-running mistakes in this game, missed signs and you can’t help the base hits on the other team,” he said. “Maria [Caviris] pitched well, but when you can’t pitch your way out of a two-out, nobody on, and walk, hit a batter, [and give up a] double — that hurt us.”

Smithtown West dropped to 2-6 League III and 5-6 overall, with nine games to play. The Bulls travel to take on Central Islip next, on April 27 at 11 a.m., and host West Babylon on April 28 at 11 a.m., in nonleague games.

11 girls score, 3 others add assists

Junior midfielder Madison Hobbes turns away from a swarm of Commack defenders. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Ward Melville’s girls’ lacrosse team scored four unanswered goals to start Monday morning’s contest, and held a 10-goal lead with 17:35 left to play. Despite Commack coming back to score eight unanswered, the Patriots hung on, maintaining possession and keeping the ball moving in the final minute to come away with a 15-13 win.

“We were a little inconsistent,” Ward Melville head coach Kerri Kilkenny said. “We had moments of brilliance and some things we can still improve upon. We need to make sure we keep our high level of play the entire game.”

Sophomore attack Jill Becker passes the ball around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophomore attack Jill Becker passes the ball around the cage. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Sophomore midfielder Nicole Liucci scored first after receiving a foul call when a Commack defender ran into her path, and sophomore attack Jill Becker added another with a shot through traffic.

Minutes later, junior attack Kaitlin Thornton landed a foul call of her own and sent her shot home. At the 16:16 mark, junior attack and midfielder Hannah Lorenzen scored up front after receiving a pass from Becker, for the 4-0 advantage.

“We’ve all played together for a really long time, so there’s definitely a connection on our team,” Becker said. “We work together, we all look up, pass to each other and we’re strong with our shot placement — we were able to finish our shots.”

Commack scored its first goal of the game minutes later, and just 30 seconds after, the Patriots pushed back when junior midfielder Kerry McKeever raced past the cage and fed the ball backward to junior midfielder Hannah Hobbes, who swiveled around defenders to get a good look in front. Becker and Lorenzen tallied their second goals of the game, and junior midfielder and defender Kelly Quinn hit her mark for an 8-1 lead.

Freshman attack and midfielder Alexis Reinhardt crosses the ball into Commack's zone. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Freshman attack and midfielder Alexis Reinhardt crosses the ball into Commack’s zone. Photo by Desirée Keegan

“We don’t necessarily have the one or two superstars, we are very well-spread offensively,” Kilkenny said. “If something’s not working for a few players, others can certainly step up and fill the roles.”

A Ward Melville offside call lead to a Commack goal, and the Cougars added another seconds later to close the gap. Ward Melville junior goalkeeper Kathryn Hopkins made a save with less than two minutes remaining in the first, and another with one second on the clock, to keep the score unchanged.

Sophomore attack Kate Mulham scored first in the opening seconds of the second half, and after her team scored two more, the two sides traded goals until Mulham scored her second and third goals of the game back-to-back, giving the Patriots their 10-goal lead with 17:35 left to play.

“We definitely started out strong, making our connections all across the field,” Mulham said. “We have a really deep bench and we can put a lot of different girls out there and we can all still perform together, because the chemistry is there. Each of our individual skills combined are really beneficial to the team.”

Sophomore attack Kate Mulham moves through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophomore attack Kate Mulham moves through midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan

But the defense struggled to maintain the offense’s advantage, as Commack came back to score eight unanswered goals, the last coming with 6:24 left in the game.

“We definitely did get a little comfortable and once we realized we needed to pull it together, we did,” Becker said. “I think we lost some communication on defense and attack with who has who and making sure we were guarding against the cutters.”

Kilkenny said her team struggled to come out strong in the first half throughout the first few games of the season, but the team has worked on playing each half equally as strong, and especially in the first half, Mulham has noticed a difference.

“We had slow starts and we were down by a few, and we always came back at the end,” she said. “But now, being able to start off strong is putting us in the lead early, making it much less stressful.”

Although the game grew closer at the end, Mulham said she is still confident that if her team can continue to work on improving, it can be tough to compete against.

“I think we can go really far this season if we all continue to work together and address these problems that we’re noticing now early in the season,” she said. “Once we address those I think we can go as far as we want to. I think we’ll be unstoppable.”

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Nine players score points in total team win

They may be small and they may be young, but the Royals can score.

Teamwork was the name of the game on Thursday for Port Jefferson: Freshman midfielder Matt Murphy tallied four of his team’s 19 goals on the way to a near shutout of Mercy, 19-1, as senior attack Marco Scarda and junior attack Brian Mark added hat tricks, and six other Royals scored or assisted in the team’s win.

“They work hard together,” Port Jefferson head coach Taylor Forstell said. “The more offensive threats you have in any game, the more it’s going to help your team out. A lot of these guys don’t necessarily get a lot of game time, so it’s good that they can come out here and be offensive presences and compete.”

Senior midfielder Max Scandale started the scoring off just over a minute into the first quarter after he swiveled around defenders and shot through traffic for a 1-0 lead. Seconds later, freshman attack Nick Koban scooped up a turnover off the draw and passed to senior midfielder Shane Bruno in front, who found the back of the cage. Scarda scored unassisted next, and then sophomore midfielder Thomas Mark looped around the cage and faked a pass outside to confuse the defense, instead feeding the ball to junior midfielder Chandler Sciara, who scored to give the team a 4-0 advantage.

Next was where Murphy stepped in, taking the ball to goal off a turnover at midfield, and with the goalkeeper hugging the left post, raced past while shooting the ball toward the far open corner.

“The teamwork was there, there was good passing and it wasn’t any singular guy,” he said of the team’s total effort. “We worked together.”

Murphy shot again seconds later and it was deflected in by Brian Mark, ending the first quarter with the Royals leading 6-0. Port Jefferson dominated the time of possession despite struggling at faceoff, as the team’s midfield and defense was able to force multiple turnovers all evening. Mercy held the ball in the final minute, racing into the Royals’ zone to try to get on the board, but Murphy stayed on a Mercy midfielder’s back, knocking the ball out of his stick and out of bounds for a turnover.

“The guys played hard,” Forstell said. “They came out from the first whistle, and to the last whistle they played hard. They stayed true to the game plan.”

The elder Mark scored unassisted to start off the second, and capped off the quarter with his hat trick goal. Murphy also added his second and third goals of the game in the second, as did Scarda.

“We put in a new offense the other day so that’s been helping get the ball around and get it to everybody so that we don’t have to rely on one or two people to carry the team,” Mark said. “Getting everyone else involved makes it more even and makes it harder for other teams to defend against us.”

By the end of the first half, Port Jefferson had a 15-0 lead on Mercy, which scored its first and only goal at the 10:48 mark of the third stanza.

“We did a good job of possessing the ball on offense, keeping it in our end, keeping it away from them so they couldn’t score — and then when it did go over there our defense did a good job of turning it over and getting it back to us,” Mark said. “It was a good job of keeping it on the offensive side and keeping it out of their hands.”

Mark said that despite the team not getting off to a strong offensive start in the beginning of the season, the team has began to click in the last couple of games. Although his Royals (3-6 overall, 3-3 in Division III) had four straight losses prior to their current three-game winning streak, the matchups were close battles, with two of the four being two-goal games.

Port Jefferson is looking to maintain a .500 league record to be in a good position for the playoffs. The Royals have five games left this season, with the next three matchups being against the top three teams in the division. Port Jefferson made it to the first round last year, despite still being a new program, and lost to Mattituck/Greenport/Southold, 16-8, in the Class C semifinals. The Mattituck team is currently at 5-1, while Babylon remains undefeated at 5-0.

“Last year it didn’t feel too good losing in the first round, so we’re looking to get to the county championship,” Mark said. “Once you get there, you never know what could happen.”

Rachel Masullo moves through traffic. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Middle Country made quick work of Commack Tuesday, scoring five unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the contest, and despite losing its opening power, came away with a 15-10 win.

“We were kind of flat — there wasn’t a lot of intensity and it definitely showed,” Middle Country head coach Lindsay Dolson said. “It has to do with our warm-up, and certain teams they take lightly. We’ve talked about it — not to do that. Good thing we didn’t get caught today, but it definitely could’ve happened.”

Jamie Ortega gains possession off the draw. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Jamie Ortega gains possession off the draw. Photo by Desirée Keegan

After gaining possession off the draw, junior midfielder Jamie Ortega beat out two defenders and stuffed the ball into the left side of the cage for the early advantage just 30 seconds in. She won possession off the draw again, and scoring next was junior midfielder Ava Barry. The two connected for the third goal of the game, when Ortega passed to Barry, who dumped it in up front.

“Jamie’s been doing an awesome job on defense and offense for us,” Dolson said. “She definitely leads the team in that aspect. She’s doing a great job.”

At the 20:42 mark, Commack was fouled for shooting space, and freshman midfielder Sophie Alois raced to the center of the field in front of the crease and scored to the left side for the 4-0 lead. Ortega and Barry connected for the final goal before Commack put its first point on the board, when Ortega couldn’t find an open lane and moved outside and away from a defender to be able to send a quick pass to Barry in front of the cage.

“We’re good at moving the ball around and finding the open girl quick because a defender comes on her, but on defense we could’ve crashed earlier,” Barry said.

Defense is where the Mad Dogs struggled most. Once Commack began winning possession off the draw, Middle Country wasn’t able to turn the ball over and the Cougars collected points as a result.

Sophie Alois contains after scooping up a ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Sophie Alois contains after scooping up a ground ball. Photo by Desirée Keegan

By the end of the first half, Middle Country still had a substantial lead, 11-5, and jumped out of the gate again to start the second half, scoring three unanswered goals before Commack countered at the 13:33 mark, and scored twice more to trail 14-8.

Middle Country junior midfielder Amy Hofer found the back of the cage for the Mad Dogs’ final goal of the game, but Commack scored three more.

Ortega finished the game with four goals and three assists, while Barry ended with a hat trick and two assists. Twin juniors Amanda and Rachel Masullo added two goals apiece, and Barry’s younger sister Jen, a freshman, tacked on a goal and an assist.

“We need to win, and we can’t always win by playing the way we played today,” Ortega said, who added that it’s been difficult playing without her sister, Nikki, the team’s leading scorer last season. “We lost a lot of important players from last year, but we’re still close, we’re still a family and we connect. It helps.”

Ava Barry shoots past Commack’s goalkeeper for the good goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Ava Barry shoots past Commack’s goalkeeper for the good goal. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Her coach is still seeing improvement though, as the mixed team, with seven freshmen and seven juniors, looks to reach the county finals level that last year’s did.

“They definitely have been growing and going in the right direction,” Dolson said. “Today, I think, was a little bit of a setback, but hopefully we’ll pick up from this in practice tomorrow and get ready for Northport on Thursday. They’re going to come with very aggressive defense. We need to handle that pressure and we have to put together a whole game.”

Middle Country takes on Northport Thursday at 4 p.m.

Barry said that if her Mad Dogs can limit the turnovers, get to the ground balls and continue to work on the draws, they’d have a good shot against Northport.

“I feel pretty strongly,” she said. “If we practice hard tomorrow and we warm up strong, we’ll play a better game.”

Harborfields' Jake Miller and Alex Martin makes their way around the track. Photo by Bill Landon

By Bill Landon

Rocky Point and Harborfields each looked to notch their first victory of the season Tuesday, but the Tornadoes’ boys’ track and field team blew past the Eagles on their home track, to win the League V meet, 103-38.

Harborfields' Randy Maldon leaps into the sand pit. Photo by Bill Landon
Harborfields’ Randy Maldon leaps into the sand pit. Photo by Bill Landon

Harborfields long jump standout Randy Maldon, a senior, was the talk of the event, taking first with a jump of 18-9 3/4, to come up well ahead of the second place finisher.

Maldon, who has competed in the event since his sophomore year, also runs winter track, and said the windy conditions affected his performance despite the positive turnout.

“The wind definitely throws off my steps — it’s pushing me back so I have to push harder, and it affects me in the air,” he said. “Going down the runway, I drifted to the left a little bit.”

The Tornadoes flexed their muscles early, dominating, the 1,600-meter to take the top five spots. First across the line for Harborfields was sophomore James DeSantis, who won the event in 4 minutes, 59:06 seconds. Harborfields senior Jake Miller won the 3,000 in 11:28.2, finishing just ahead of teammate Alexander Martin, a junior, as both runners traded the lead several times.

“It was windy, but I ran with my teammate Alex alternating laps and we would take turns blocking the wind,” Miller said. “We needed to see who had a little bit left with 800 meters left.”

Rocky Point’s Chris Valleau, a three-year varsity competitor, competed in the 200 and 400 dashes, and said he felt he underperformed.

“I can run better than I did today,” the junior said, adding that it had nothing to do with the windy conditions.

Rocky Point senior Kevin LaRosa, who competed in the 100 and 200, finished the races in 13 seconds and 28 seconds, respectively.

“I thought we underperformed as a team today — we certainly could’ve done better,” LaRosa said. “The conditions really didn’t affect me today in the shorter races, but it does in the longer distances.”

Cameron Cutler leaps over the hurdles for Rocky Point. Photo by Bill Landon
Cameron Cutler leaps over the hurdles for Rocky Point. Photo by Bill Landon

Alex DeMottie, a senior who competed in the high jump, 800 and 4×800 relay, echoed LaRosa’s and Valleau’s assessment that there was room for improvement.

“It wasn’t my best performance,” DeMottie said. “I’ve got to work harder to improve my times.”

Rocky Point head coach Chris Donadoni said in the end, his Eagles just faced a better team.

“I was pleased with our shotput and discus events today, although we didn’t get to see those because those events are held on the lower field,” the head coach said, adding that his assistant coach said each kid threw their best in both events. “It’s a growing process with this team. They’re real young and inexperienced, so each meet is an opportunity for all of them to learn something. We’ll look at each of their performances, but more importantly, how they prepare mentally for each event. They’ve made progress in their preparation since the start of the season.”

With the win, Harborfields improves to 1-2 as the Eagles fall to 0-3.

Rocky Point travels to Westhampton Beach on April 30 for an 8:30 a.m. meet.

Dominic Pryor scores a goal for Ward Melville through a ton of Smithtown traffic. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Redemption was sweet for the Ward Melville boys’ lacrosse team.

Not only did the Patriots take down the boys of Smithtown East, who knocked them out of the playoffs in the Suffolk County Class A finals last season, but they also handed the Bulls their first loss of this season, 13-12.

Smithtown East was 7-0 coming into the contest, with one of the strongest faceoff kids in the county in senior Gerard Arceri, and two of the leading goal scorers in junior Connor Desimone and senior Dan Rooney. But that didn’t scare Ward Melville.

“We had that loss to West Islip [9-7 on April 8], which was one of our down games, but we knew we had to come back fired up,” Ward Melville goalkeeper D.J. Kellerman said.

“We knew that they were one of the top teams and we really wanted to take them down.”

The Patriots, 7-1, scored three goals in the first seven minutes of play before Rooney, an attack, found the back of the net with 3:09 left in the first quarter to put his team on the board.

“They’re a rival of ours — they’re right across town from us, so obviously intensity and competitiveness is at an all time maximum,” Smithtown East’s Desimone, an attack, said. “Coming out here and not showing up in the first half really killed us, but we’ll get them back.”

Ward Melville's Liam Davenport leads the chase for the ball at midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Ward Melville’s Liam Davenport leads the chase for the ball at midfield. Photo by Desirée Keegan

Rooney followed his goal with his second score of the afternoon, off an assist from junior attack Michael Latini, and junior midfielder Luke Eschbach helped bring the score to 3-3 at the end of the first.

“Obviously Connor Desimone and Dan Rooney, they’re very dangerous, so we did a couple of game-planning strategies for them, but our goalie D.J. Kellerman played outstanding,” Ward Melville head coach Jay Negus said. “We’ve been waiting to play all four quarters all year, and this is the first game that I really feel we did. I don’t like taking my foot off the gas pedal, and that showed today, too. We played quick. I thought we did a good job of managing the game and really dictating the terms to them.”

Despite Arceri winning the opening faceoff of the second stanza, Kellerman still stopped a diving attempt by Desimone in the crease, and Ward Melville senior attack Chris Grillo faked out Smithtown East junior goalkeeper Thomas Harkin and dumped the ball in up top for a 4-3 edge. Kellerman followed with another stop, one of his 14 saves on the day, to keep his team on top.

The Bulls and Patriots traded scores, but Ward Melville senior midfielder Connor Grippe and junior midfielder Dominic Pryor added two goals in the final two minutes to put the Patriots up 7-4 heading into the halftime break.

“We lost to them in the counties last year, so obviously it’s a significant win for us,” Pryor said. “We moved the ball really well and we were very patient. Our defense stood strong with the amount of times they threw the ball in the crease.”

Ward Melville maintained an 11-9 advantage at the end of the third, but Smithtown East wasn’t going to go down that easily.

Latini opened the final quarter with a quick goal less than a minute in, and although Ward Melville countered, junior midfielder Connor Rowan added his second tally of the afternoon to keep it a one-goal game.

Smithtown's Luke Eschbach dives for the ball to beat out Ward Melville players. Photo by Desirée Keegan
Smithtown’s Luke Eschbach dives for the ball to beat out Ward Melville players. Photo by Desirée Keegan

The Bulls gained more time of possession as the game continued, but over the next seven minutes neither team could find the back of the net, as the goalkeepers battled and batted the ball away.

“We won most faceoffs, but couldn’t really take away they’re strong hands on defense, and couldn’t convert on offense,” Desimone said.

Harkin made a save for Smithtown off of Pryor’s initial attempt, but freshman attack Dylan Pallonetti grabbed the rebound in mid air and stuffed it past the keeper for the 13-11 lead. Although the Bulls found themselves down two goals again with minutes remaining, Desimone came through again for his team with another goal off a feed from Latini. Arceri won the final faceoff, but a turnover in the final seconds sealed the Bulls’ fate. The Patriots raced across the field, dropping their sticks and stripping themselves of their gear, and leapt into a pile of victory, smiling from ear to ear.

“We knew that they were going to score goals,” Kellerman said. “We had a feeling it was going to be high scoring, but we scored one more at the end and that’s all that matters. At the faceoff ‘X’ we did a great job neutralizing Gerard Arceri. We weren’t going to win them all, we knew that, but I was confident.”

Ward Melville hosted Riverhead on Wednesday, but results were not available by press time.

Danielle Turner, who is currently the assistant principal at North Country Road Middle School in Miller Place, will take over July 1

Danielle Turner was previously the assistant principal at North Country Road Middle School in Miller Place. File photo from Danielle Turner

A new athletic director has entered the kingdom.

After an extensive search, Port Jefferson school district hired Danielle Turner to be the new face of Royals athletics, taking the helm on July 1 and replacing Edward Cinelli, who has served as interim athletic director since former leader Deb Ferry left in December.

“I’m super excited to get in there and start,” Turner said. “Being an athletic director has always been my goal. It’s a small community, a very supportive community. I think for me Port Jefferson is the perfect fit.”

The Sayville resident and Farmingdale native is the assistant principal at North Country Road Middle School in Miller Place, a role she took after first applying for the athletic director position there. She will follow former assistant principal Robert Neidig to Port Jefferson, who himself left Miller Place to become the principal at Port Jefferson Middle School.

North Country Road Principal Matt Clark said Turner will do a phenomenal job for the Royals.

“She did a really nice job of acclimating right to our culture and I could tell right away she had tremendous initiative,” he said. “We were very impressed when she stepped in and became a big part of the fabric of what we do. She’s done a great job of team building within teachers and she’s also done a really nice job of supervision of both faculty and staff. We’re really proud of her.”

After graduating from Sachem, Turner received a bachelor of science degree in physical education from SUNY Cortland. She followed that up with a master’s in athletic administration and coaching from Stony Brook University, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in educational administration and supervision from St. John’s University. She also holds certification in the areas of the Dignity for All Students Act, crisis prevention intervention and first aid, and is a certified personal trainer.

Danielle Turner will take over as athletic director at Port Jefferson on July 1. Photo from Port Jefferson school district
Danielle Turner will take over as athletic director at Port Jefferson on July 1. Photo from Port Jefferson school district

Turner received her first teaching and coaching positions at Longwood Middle School, where she was a physical education teacher and varsity volleyball coach from 2008-12, while also coaching lacrosse and basketball at different levels. She later served as assistant principal at Eastern Suffolk BOCES’ Premm Learning Center and Sayville Academic Center.

“I went from teaching phys ed with sixth-graders to being a special education assistant principal, which was extremely difficult but also was just a great learning experience for me in terms of the types of students that I dealt with,” Turner said in an interview.

David Falco, a physical education teacher at Sachem North and the school’s varsity football coach, instructed Turner when she was on the girls’ basketball team there. He said his former athlete was a dedicated, tough inside player. As a SUNY Cortland alumnus, he was an integral part of her college discussion.

“She has a love of sports and kids, she has a great rapport with parents and the other administrators in the building, and I’ve seen her interact with all of those groups in a very positive way,” he said. “I think the sky is the limit for Danielle in regard to athletic administration, and I think that’s because of the way she approaches all the different tasks she has — and that’s because of her work ethic.”

Turner, who is also making waves as a female boys’ basketball referee, said she’s thankful for those like Lisa Lally and Deb Ferry, Miller Place and Port Jefferson’s former longtime athletic directors, for paving the way for females.

“I owe it all to them,” she said. “They’ve been super supportive and helpful, and excelled and thrived in the position.”

She thinks Port Jefferson is the perfect place for her because of its small, intimate setting, and said she was excited to learn that the athletic office was within the high school.

”Port Jeff obviously has a great reputation academically, so I definitely keep up with that reputation while getting a feel of the land,” she said. “I want to continue with producing quality student-athletes and ultimately improve upon those programs in whatever way we can. I am again just so thrilled to be able to see the kids in action, and get out there at games supporting our kids.”