Familiar faces lead M/G/S girls lax to dominant win over Center Moriches

Several familiar names were instrumental in the Mattituck/Greenport/Southold girls lacrosse team’s 15-5 victory over Center Moriches on Friday, April 17.

Senior forward Olivia Zehil recorded a first-half hat-trick in the Suffolk County Division II encounter.

Page Kellershon and Claire McKenzie each collected two goals and an assist, and Riley Richert found the net twice. Grace Quinn, Gianna Calise, and Reese McKenna each tallied a solo goal on a rainy, windy afternoon in Southold.

And there were three rarely used players who might have caused the most excitement.

Francesca Santacroce, Jillian Fogerty, and Serena Gantley scored their first varsity goals in the second half. Every time they scored, they were congratulated by their teammates on the field, with the starters standing on the sidelines cheering wildly.

“I think just hearing the bench, you could tell how proud we are for everyone to be scoring,” Zehil said. “We’re so excited for everyone to have that feeling. After you score, it’s such a great feeling.”

Tuckers head coach, Logan McGinn, was more than happy to give reserves a considerable amount of playing time. Mattituck (4-2, 3-2) rolled to an 11-3 halftime advantage against the Red Devils (0-9, 0-7).

“Anytime you can get everyone in, it’s a good win,” he said. “Everyone works just as hard as the next girl. To get them in almost four quarters to reward them, it’s a good thing. I know playing in the rain is not a lot of fun, but at least they were trying.”

Gantley, a junior defenseman, converted a penalty shot at 5:21 of the third quarter before Santacroce duplicated the tally at 8:15 of the fourth period, and Fogarty tallied off a penalty shot with 10 seconds left.

“It is awesome to see, especially when it happens to just really good kids,” McGinn said. “When it happens to good kids, you just get excited for them. They work hard, and it pays off when they get in.”

Santacroce, a senior forward who was a standout for the Greenport/Southold girls basketball team, made her lacrosse debut.

“I didn’t think I was going to score,” she said. “That wasn’t even a thought in my mind. I’m so grateful that my teammates had trust in me, and my coach had the trust to put me on offense. That scoring feeling, it’s so much fun. It’s such a great experience.”

Fogarty, a junior defenseman, could attest to that after her goal.

“I felt like I was on top of the world,” she said.

“It was a really big deal, having my friends there to help me out, especially one of my good friends, Claire. She assisted it. They were all just trying to help me, cheering on the sidelines.”

The Tuckers grabbed a 4-0 lead three minutes and 20 seconds after the opening faceoff and never looked back. Quinn struck only 55 seconds after Calise won the opening face-off. Then Calise, Kellershon, and Richert scored in quick succession.

“We got to the field a little bit earlier today, and we did some fun games,” Zehil said. “I think that helped build our team chemistry.

“Our communication, too, has been a big part, trying to move the ball really quickly and get everyone to have touches and looking for the most unselfish play. Even if you don’t score the goal, you still have a big part in the play.”

McGinn liked what he saw, especially during the second half.

“We’re starting to believe in ourselves,” he said. “We’re just trying to stack good plays. If we have a bad play, stack the next good play. The team that stacks the best plays is usually the team that comes out on top. That’s what we’re looking for.”

“There’s been a little bit of peaks and valleys. I feel like we’ve been playing very well sometimes, and there are some times we’ve put ourselves in a little bit of a spot. We’re working on being a little bit more consistent because it really matters towards the end of the season with us beating both of the Class D teams.”

McGinn was referring to the Tuckers defeating Babylon, 13-8, on March 26, and Friday’s win. Another Class D team, Bayport-Blue Point (4-2, 3-2), the reigning Class C state champions, dropped down a division. Mattituck and Bayport won’t meet in the regular season, but they are on target to reach the playoffs.

The semifinals are scheduled for May 27, the final at Stony Brook University on May 31.