Tuckers girls’ lax eyes third county championship in four year

Two out of three isn’t bad.

For the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold girls lacrosse team, three out of four would be even better.

The Tuckers are vying for their third Suffolk County Class D championship in four years. Before they can play top-seeded Bayport-Blue Point in the May 31 final at Stony Brook University, the third-seeded side will need to defeat No. 2 Babylon away on Tuesday, May 26, at 4:30 p.m.

Senior midfielder Gianna Calise understood the urgency.

“Last year, last chance to win this,” Calise said after the Tuckers’ 19-4 home loss to Sayville in their regular-season finale on May 14. “I will definitely say 100% that I’m hungry for this. I want this with everything. I know a lot of the other girls do, too. It’s our last year. What else would you want? You want to go out with the bang. That’s exactly what we’re going to try to do.”

Babylon has been Mattituck’s archrival in lacrosse. The Tuckers captured the 2023 crown with a 12-6 triumph. The Panthers bounced back behind an 11-8 victory in 2024 before Mattituck regained the title with a 13-6 win in 2025.

“We are so determined, especially playing Babylon,” said senior attack-midfielder Claire McKenzie, who scored twice against Sayville. “They’re our rivals. We want [to] beat them by as much as we can.”

“It’s definitely special,” added senior midfielder Page Kellershon, who leads all county scorers (55 goals, 43 assists for 98 points). “It is our last high school year. Nothing is guaranteed.”

For the third time in four years, the Tuckers enter the tournament as the third seed. The only time they didn’t celebrate a title was when they were the top-seeded team.

“Three’s been our lucky number,” head coach Logan McGinn said. “I’m not super mad that we’re at three. I’m a very superstitious person.”

This year’s squad is a special team, with 16 seniors, many of whom have played together well before high school. Many are close friends.

“It just showed me what a sport can do,” Calise said. “Being able to have this many friends, especially in my age group that comes together and turns into sisters, it’s something that I will never take for granted.”

Kellershon had similar sentiments. “It’s definitely been something special, especially this year, knowing that it’s the last time playing here,” she said. “Especially with the people that I’ve been playing with since kindergarten. Just to end it, one last final hurrah is really special.”

In their second game of the season on March 26, the Tuckers (8-8, 7-7) recorded a 13-8 victory over Babylon (10-6, 9-6).

“It is very hard to beat a team twice,” McGinn said. “We’re definitely not going to take them lightly. They’re a good team. We’re going to play the game as if we never played them before.”

It should be noted that Sayville is ranked fourth in the nation among girls’ lacrosse teams, regardless of their class. The Golden Flashes (16-0, 14-0) are the only undefeated girls lacrosse team in the county. 

Dylan McNamara (two assists), Sophia Buffardi (one assist) and Carly Cangelosi (one) each finished with hat-tricks.

“They’re an insane team, from the coaches to the girls,” Calise said. “They’re just an amazing group of girls. I give them full credit because they do work really hard for what they have. It’s not like it’s just a given for them. I’m thankful that we even got the chance to play them, but it’s definitely something that opens our eyes in a way.”

Such as?

“They really picked apart our transitions,” McKenzie said. “Clearly, we need to work on transitioning. We turned over the ball four times on transition, which led to them scoring.”

The game was a learning experience for the Tuckers.

“There’s always going to be people who are bigger, better, stronger than you at times,” Calise said. “Even if you have a good game, the game before, or if you are starting to begin to feel confident in yourself, that doesn’t mean you are settled in, and you have to stop working hard. It’s your push to keep going and to keep working.”

McGinn said that he might have a surprise or two for Babylon.

“I always like to try to throw a wrinkle at the team, something that people aren’t ready for. I like to keep people on their toes,” he said. “When you prep for something and then all of a sudden we’re in something a little bit different. It throws you off your game a little bit. I’m going back to watching a lot of film of them.”