Huntington girls lacrosse earns first Long Island crown in 30 years
Huntington celebrates after a 12-8 win over Massapequa in the Long Island Class A girls lacrosse championship at Adelphi on Tuesday. Credit: James Escher
If you haven’t bet on them yet, it may be time to reconsider.
The Huntington girls lacrosse team knocked out two-time defending champion Massapequa, 12-8, in the Long Island Class A championship on Tuesday afternoon at Adelphi University. The Blue Devils brought home a Long Island title for the first time since 1995.
They wear the motto “bet on us” on the back of their warm-up jerseys, and as they move on to compete at the state level, they aim to continue proving that you should.
“No one’s ever bet on us,” junior captain Jolie Weinschreider said. “We’ve always been overlooked by teams, by coaches, by everyone, and we have so much to prove.”
“For a long time, we’ve felt like the only people who really care about us is us,” coach Katie Reilly said. “It was time that we proved that we belong here. Counties was the first step, and this was the next.”
It was an energetic start from the Blue Devils as they took a 4-0 lead within the first four minutes of play. The run was fueled by Weinschreider’s free position that got Huntington on the board at 10:33.
“The last two games we’ve played have gone into overtime,” Weinschreider said. “This game, we really wanted to get the score up early, and that’s kind of exactly what happened.”
In the second quarter, the Blue Devils shut out Massapequa while scoring two goals of their own, including Devon St. John’s rebound off a free position and Weinschreider’s solo run to the net that put them up 6-1 at the half.
Massapequa’s Isabella Grosso opened the scoring in the third, but the Blue Devils went on a 4-0 run, which was ended by a Massapequa free position with 47 seconds left.
Junior Grace Hoffman sparked a comeback for Massapequa in the third, but three big-time saves by freshman goalie Juliette Johnson kept the Blue Devils on top. St. John’s shot at the buzzer sealed the win for the Blue Devils.
“Juliette has an amazing defense in front of her,” Reilly said. “Every once in a while, when our defense gets broken, she makes huge saves for us, and she played amazing today.”
Weinschreider and Valentina Puccio each finished with three goals, Sabrina Boyle had two goals and one assist, St. John added two goals, and Johnson had five saves. Paige Garguilo had two goals and one assist and Emily Fitzgerald made six saves for Massapequa (12-8).
“We all believe in each other,” Puccio said. “We really are like a family, and this is something we’ve worked so hard for, so it’s incredible to see it come to life.”
Huntington (18-2) will travel to Lakeland High School on Saturday, where it will compete in the regional finals at 5:30 p.m. Their opponent has yet to be determined.
The last time the Blue Devils made it to the state level was in 1995 when they fell in the semifinal round.
“Well now, we want to go all the way,” Reilly said. “We have no idea what to expect competing at this stage. We’ve just got to give it everything we have until, hopefully, the very end.”
