By Steven Zaitz
Northport, Ward Melville, and lacrosse always make for a high-stakes combination. It was no different last Friday, May 24, when the two girls varsity teams faced off in the Suffolk County Class A championship game at neutral-site West Islip.
This time, the Lady Patriots came out on top, doubling up their most bitter rival with a score of 8-4.
Northport, who beat Ward Melville in the county final two years ago when Isabella Germani scored with three minutes left to lift Northport to an 8-7 win, could not ride the wave of their emotional semifinal victory against Commack, which gave head coach Carol Rainson-Rose her 500th career win.
Ward Melville’s stifling defense led to numerous Northport turnovers, and the Patriots capitalized on them. Attacker Grace Mulham and midfielder M.J. Timpanaro scored second-quarter goals that gave Ward Melville a 4-2 lead. Senior attacker Kate Spinks scored to open the second half, and senior goalkeeper Ava Carrillo did the rest.
Carrillo made six saves, many with a great degree of difficulty, and played a positionally sound game, rarely giving Northport anything to shoot at.
Tiger freshman Riley Cash had two goals, and senior captains Kennedy Radziul and Christina Lauro each scored once. However, big guns Julia Huxtable and Kate Atkinson were held scoreless.
Freshman middie Aliya Leonard had a pair of goals, and junior Ava Simonton and senior Mia Pirozzi also scored.
The Lady Patriots, who last won the Suffolk County championship in 2007, will take on the winner of Farmingdale and Massapequa for the Long Island championship next weekend.
