No. 2 Port Washington girls lacrosse advances to Nassau Class A final
Port Washington celebrates after defeating Syosset in a Nassau Class A girls lacrosse semifinal on Tuesday at Adelphi. Credit: Dawn McCormick
The longer-tenured players on the Port Washington girls lacrosse team are no strangers to playing at Adelphi, but throughout their varsity careers, it’s only been a one-game experience. The Vikings knew they had the talent to change that this year, and Tuesday was their moment to prove it.
Second-seeded Port Washington showcased that with a 16-7 victory over No. 3 Syosset in the girls lacrosse Nassau Class A semifinals at Adelphi on Tuesday night.
“This year we wanted to make history and we are already starting to,” senior midfielder Catherine Karman said. “And this is not the ending, it’s just the start, so we’re ready.”
Port Washington (9-8) advances to play top-seeded Massapequa (11-7) in the Nassau Class A final at Adelphi at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Vikings are playing in their first county championship game since 2018 and seek their first county crown since 2000, which predates the introductions of classifications.
“I’ve never been (past) here,” junior midfielder Maggie Cassidy said. “I’ve always heard and dreamed about it every single time we’ve come to Adelphi, so it’s just so awesome that I get to play with my girls and give it a go.”
Cassidy and Violet Ortenzi each had four goals and an assist and Karman also scored four goals on Tuesday. Port Washington scored the game’s first four goals and led 6-2 after the first quarter and 10-4 at halftime.
Cassidy and Karman, a pair of left-handed scorers, had all eight of their goals in the first half to create early separation.
“Catherine and Maggie are two people that any team would be lucky to have,” coach Pamela Giordano said. “You see it with Catherine’s ability to win possession on the draws and her ability to score and Maggie Cassidy is the hardest worker we have on this team.”
Alexa Baek and Jadyn Stadler each had three goals for Syosset (5-13).
With the girls lacrosse Long Island championships also being held at Adelphi this year, the Vikings hope to play on the field beyond Tuesday as well.
“For the past four years, we’ve only made it to the semifinals and this year, we dug deep,” Karman said. “But our goals weren’t to finish here. We want to play every single day and we don’t want this to end.”
Massapequa seeks fifth straight title
Top-seeded Massapequa defeated fourth-seeded Farmingdale, 14-6, in the Nassau Class A semifinals on Tuesday night and will play for its fifth straight Nassau Class A title.
Cassidy Morrow led Massapequa with three goals. Micaela Gillis, Isabella Grosso, Grace Hoffman and Natalie Byrns each added two goals.
Massapequa scored 14 of the game’s final 17 goals after Farmingdale scored the first three goals of the contest.
