Mattituck girls lacrosse wins Suffolk Class D title
The Mattituck girls lacrosse team celebrates their victory over Babylon in the Suffolk Class D championship on Saturday at Smithtown West. Credit: George A. Faella
It was a familiar opponent on a familiar stage for the Mattituck girls lacrosse team. For the last two years, they’ve faced Babylon in the Suffolk Class D final. After winning in 2023, they were on the other side of the celebration last season. Since then, all they could think about was reclaiming the title.
On Saturday morning at Smithtown East High School, the No. 2-seeded Tuckers finally reunited with the Class D trophy after taking down No. 1 Babylon, 13-6.
“The moment we watched them celebrate last year is forever engraved in my mind,” Gianna Calise said. “So coming here and being on the other side again, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
Mattituck came out strong out of the gate; Calise scored on a free position just 19 seconds after the whistle. After a defensive stop, Grace Quinn found Claire McKenzie to extend the lead to 2-0.
“The girls came out hungry; they were ready to go,” coach Logan McGinn said. “We talked about putting our foot on the gas and not letting up, and they were able to do that today.”
A goal on the buzzer by Quinn brought Mattituck up 6-2 at the end of the first quarter.
Babylon was shut out in the second quarter, while Mattituck was able to score two.
“We’ve been working really hard throughout the season to find our perfect defense,” Page Kellershon said. “I think we’ve really started to nail that down.”
Babylon (8-9) made a 2-0 run in the third, but Mattituck scored four goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, and Quinn added another with just under three minutes to go to for Mattituck's final score.
Babylon’s Lily Krollage and Sofia Giorgio completed the scoring.
The junior midfield trio of Calise scored four goals, Kellershon had three goals and three assists and Olivia Zehil had three goals. Quinn had two goals and two assists.
Mattituck (10-8) will travel to Adelphi on Tuesday to face Nassau opponent Cold Spring Harbor (15-3) for the Long Island Class D championship. In their last meeting in 2023, Mattituck fell 14-3 to the Seahawks. Though earning a Long Island title will be no walk in the park, Zehil believes they’ve gotten stronger since last time.
“I think it’s all clicking at the right time,” Zehil said. “We’ve gotten so much stronger over the last two years, and we definitely have what it takes.”
