Tuckers girls lacrosse still pushing for county crown

If the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold girls lacrosse team has an Achilles heel, it’s their persistently slow starts against quality opponents.

Case in point: The 18-6 loss at Smithtown West in Suffolk County Division II action Tuesday night. It was the second time this season the team was slow getting out of the starting gate. The Tuckers found themselves in a 9-0 hole after the opening quarter and were forced to chase the game.

“That’s been a little bit of an issue for us, as a team from top to bottom,” head coach Logan McGinn said. “We have to reevaluate if it’s our warm-up, if it’s our bus ride, or how we’re attacking the first quarter. It’s been a couple of games where we came out slow. We’re a good team to battle back from that, but sometimes you put yourself in a hole against a very good team like that, they don’t give you a chance to get back in it.”

The game featured four leading attackers in the county. Junior midfielder Page Kellershon entered the match in fourth place with 39 points (25 goals and 14 assists). Junior midfielder Gianna Calise (24-12-36) was tied for ninth with Smithtown West’s dynamic duo of Alyssa Lorefice (10-26-36) and Kate Theofield (30-6-36).

The Bulls (8-1, 7-1) are a slick-passing team that combines skill and pinpoint passing and a swarming defense that smothers the opposition’s attack.

The Tuckers (5-4, 4-3), who hope to vie for the Class D title next month, won’t have to worry about facing the Bulls in the postseason because they will compete for Class B honors.

“Their IQ is insanely immaculate,” said Calise, who finished with a goal and an assist. “It’s very good. They are very smart with the ball from the goalie, the defense, middies and attackers. They know what to do in all these different situations that they’re put in. That has a huge benefit. I’ve watched them play throughout the years. This group of girls has been together since kindergarten. They’ve been together forever. They have that connection that any team really is looking for.”

The Tuckers were sometimes their own worst enemies. They turned the ball over a dozen times, sometimes on unforced errors. Smithtown had just one.

“We need to work more on protecting the ball and valuing it rather than go-go-go, and understanding just working as a team as a whole,” said Kellershon, who finished with a goal and assist.

Smithtown West was relentless in the first quarter. Only 38 seconds after the opening faceoff, Theofield scored the first of her game-high five goals, including three in the period, off a fine individual effort. Lorefice set up the tally, the first of eight assists. Lorefice connected on a counterattack at 1:30 before assisting Theofield at 2:16.

The Tuckers found their game at the start of the second period. Kellershon broke the ice, scoring from the right side at 32 seconds. Junior attack-midfielder Claire McKenzie did the same at 4:32 before Kellershon fed junior attack-midfielder Olivia Zehil at 5:29 to slice the deficit to 9-3.

“Sad enough to say, my coach yelling at us definitely picks us up a little bit,” Calise said. “He talked some sense to us, saying, like, ‘Hey, we are still in this.’ It gave us that motivation to keep pushing and trying.”

Smithtown, however, regained momentum by scoring four consecutive goals to close out the first half. Jolie Schiavo added four goals.

Grace Quinn, Riley Richert and Reese McKenna also scored for the Tuckers.

Since there are only two lacrosse divisions, teams such as Mattituck play larger schools on a regular basis.

“I definitely think it does help us a lot,” Calise said. “Seeing how all these different teams play, from the best of the best to some of the not-as-good teams, seeing a different range will definitely prepare us for anything to come. Playing these big schools is very beneficial.”

Added McGinn: “If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. We’re not just looking to win Class D. We’re looking to be a competitive team on the island. We don’t want to be a 6-8 or 7-7 team. That’s not our goal to win a county championship like that. We want to win a county championship, and everyone be like, ‘Oh, wow, that team deserves it.’ We want to make a name for ourselves outside of our county title. We want to make a name for ourselves everywhere.”