Mepham continues its rise

Earning a bump up to Conference III following an undefeated season a year ago capped by their first Nassau girls’ lacrosse playoff berth in five years, Lady Pirates’ coach Melissa Rohr said she is thrilled with the progress her team has shown so far this spring.

“We’re on the trajectory that I wanted to be on,” said Rohr, now in her third year as head coach. “We’re playing more competitive teams and that’s exactly where you want to be.”

Having split their first two conference games to start the season, Rohr said she likes what she is seeing so far from her players, particularly with their unselfish play.

She preaches a team-first attitude, prioritizing ball movement and offensive balance over individual accolades, and it’s a mentality that her team has bought into, evidenced by nine different goal scorers across those two games.

“We’re being selfless and going hard to the goal one-on-one,” Rohr said. “If I was scouting us, I wouldn’t know who to worry about because we’re threatening from all over the field and sharing the ball well.”

The Lady Pirates defeated East Meadow 10-9 in their first conference game on March 26 and dropped a close one to Bethpage the next day, 16-14.

Senior attacker Jamie Maddaluno has led the offensive attack with five goals, which comes as no surprise to Rohr. “She’s awesome on the faceoff,” Rohr said. “She does well for us all over the field.”

Two other senior attackers Rohr expects to fill up the up the stat sheet this season are Annemarie Hagarty and Erin Chalich, who have combined for 15 points so far over two games. Hagarty, an athletic, quick player who “goes 100 m.p.h. no matter what,” Rohr said, complements Chalich’s more refined style of play. “She’s a thinker,” Rohr said of Chalich. “She’s the kid I rely on to take a deep breath and say, ‘Let’s get the ball around.’ She’s an on-the-field kind of a coach.”

On defense, Senior goalkeeper Serena Turco, who waited three years to take over the starting job, has lifted the club with clutch saves in big spots in their first two games. And junior Kristina Monaco has provided speed and tenacity in the midfield.

While many of those offensive weapons will be graduating this year, Rohr is already excited for her younger wave of players to develop this season and step into leadership roles. That includes freshman midfielder Allie Heller, sophomore  attacker Alexa Ferrara and sophomore Julia Cardace, who Rohr applauded for her on-field ubiquity. “I kind of call her a little gnat on the field,” she said. “She’s all over the field and really difficult for defenders to figure out.

As a newcomer in their conference, Rohr said he team thrives on the prospect of being labeled an underdog. Away from the spotlight, they have “Everything in the world to prove and nothing to lose,” she said she told her team. “So just go out there and play.

“And they’re playing,” Rohr added. “We’re going to battle teams.”