Emotions ran high on Tuckers girls lax Senior Day
Lacrosse defensemen don’t wind up in the spotlight very often because the sport is so goal oriented.
Aly De La Noval and Ruby Villani savored their moments in the sun on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon.
As the only 12th-graders on the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold girls team, they were honored on Senior Day before a 15-14 loss to Miller Place in Suffolk County Division II at Southold High.
The defeat stung, but they hope to enjoy at least one more memorable moment by capturing the county Class D title, duplicating the feat they accomplished as sophomores in 2023.
“I want to get there like that year,” De La Noval said.
“I want to win it so bad, especially winning it as an underclassman. It was amazing.” Villani added. “I looked up to the seniors, and I hope that the underclassmen on my team look up to us just as much as I looked up to them.”
Actually, they do.
“I feel like we’re all sisters from the age of 4; we’ve been playing together till now,” said junior midfielder Gianna Calise, who scored three goals. “Having them on the team and being such a crucial part of our leadership really has brought the girls together. They really did a great job holding us together and making us family oriented.”
Head coach Logan McGinn praised the defensive duo in a pre-game ceremony in front of the team, family and friends. De La Noval and Villani wore tiaras and pink shirts that said, Senior 25. They were given flowers and framed pictures of themselves in action.
“They’re instrumental [to the team’s success],” McGinn said. “They’re just great kids. You have leaders that lead by example. They’re good academically, they’re good socially. They’re just good on and off the field. You can’t really ask for more than that as a coach.
“As a coach, you sometimes get caught up in wins and losses, but what I’m going to measure myself is like, how these kids go off in life,” he continued. “Those two kids are two great ones that I don’t have to worry about, that I know are going to make an impact wherever they go.”
Afterwards, De La Noval and Villani hugged each other.
“It’s pretty emotional,” Villani said of the day. “I love these girls, and I love this team. I’ve been playing with them forever. I’m just really sad to leave. This game meant a lot. We really played hard, even if we came out with a loss.”
Added De La Noval: “It’s more than you can really explain. It’s really nice to be just hanging out with my friends since the fourth grade.”
The game was an entertaining affair. The Tuckers (7-8, 6-7) grabbed a 3-1 lead four minutes and seven seconds in, but the Panthers retaliated with four unanswered goals. The match was tied six times and had eight lead changes.
Miller Place (7-7, 6-7) took the lead for good with 5:41 remaining in the contest at 13-12, on the first off three consecutive tallies by Abby Lonigro (four goals) within 3:30 for a 15-12 advantage, with 2:11 left.
McGinn pulled goalie Hunter Mackey to get an extra field player in an attempt to equalize.
“I told the girls if we lose 15-12 or 16-12, it’s not a difference,” he said. “Giving us that extra girl allows us to push out. We were able to get a turnover to spark a little bit of a comeback.”
The strategy almost paid off. Claire McKenzie scored her third goal with 49.9 seconds remaining and Page Kellershon connected for her third with 15.5 seconds left.
Seconds before the final buzzer, Calise took a shot from the right side that seventh-grade goaltender Grace LoRusso caught.
The Tuckers can clinch the top seed and a spot in the May 31 final with a win at Hauppauge in their regular season finale on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The worst case is a spot in a play-in match against defending champion Babylon or Center Moriches on May 21.
Through Wednesday morning, Mattituck had 98.57 power points, Center Moriches 97.01 and Babylon 94.98 in the county’s complicated system.
“It’s so hard to tell what’s going to happen,” McGinn said. “We’ll lose maybe one or two [points]. I don’t really see the other two jumping that far.”
McGinn was encouraged by recent performances against larger Class C schools, after defeating Kings Park (9-4, 8-4), 13-12, on Saturday, May 10.
“We’re starting to really come into our own,” he said. “We’re getting hot at the right time going into the Class D playoffs.”
