North Shore is multifaceted

Amongst the very best girls’ lacrosse teams that Long Island has to offer, the North Shore program stands proudly amongst them, coming into this season with a 10-8 record in 2016. Although the competition may be stout, this Lady Vikings unit focuses on its multi-tooled and diversely talented roster to combat some of the other premiere teams on Long Island.

“Our thing is we have a lot of girls on our team who can play any position,” head coach Megan McCormack said. “A lot of them are able to play attack, defense, and midfield… and I think that flexibility helps us out a ton.”

That flexibility is bolstered by a mixture of both strong junior and sophomore classes, whom are very familiar with each other on and off the field. “Our junior class is really strong which helps us, and we have a solid group of sophomores…Most of these girls have been playing together since 8th grade or younger,” McCormack said.

But although both the sophomores and juniors are primed to make an impact for the Lady Vikings, returning seniors Quinn Lacy and Ashleigh Sheerin look to be the driving force for this squad, especially in the early going. Lacy, a key part last year, will anchor the defense in the crease. Sheerin, the team’s captain who epitomizes the “multifaceted” tag as an equally apt defender and middie, had succumb to an injury fairly recently. This injury, according to McCormack, held her out of the first two games. However, Sheerin returned to help North Shore attain its first win of 2017 over Port Washington.

Amongst some of the other contributors will be Alana Greene, a junior that McCormack expressed her confidence in early in the season. Helping out Sheerin on the defensive end will be a pair of effective and capable defenders in Selena Fordich and April Rowell. “They (Fordich and Rowell) are very vocal, keep everybody calm together, and keep everyone on the same page defensively,” said McCormack.

Attacker Madeline Podaras is part of an offense that is very proficient at capitalizing off of a counter. With so many of North Shore’s defenders and midfielders being so able as offensive players as well, the ability to push the ball up the field off of a counter and create fast breaks is a big advantage for this unit. “…and even off of the fast break I always tell my girls to look for the best shot, not the first shot,” McCormack said of the offensive gameplan. 

Greene, Sheerin, and Lacy were all pegged as integral to keeping the work ethic solid and staying focused throughout the season. They’ve already played a big role thus far.

McCormack, a former high school and college lacrosse player, says that her background makes it a bit easier to communicate with her players as well: “I just remember things that I liked, disliked, or whatever the case may be, and either address or avoid those things. I also try to give them perspective about the game, but I think it all comes down to building both relationships and trust between all of us.”

North Shore is home on Monday, April 10 at 11 a.m. against non-league opponent Plainedge.