Lynbrook rolls past MacArthur

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In what projected to be a close game between the No. 8 and 9 seeds in the Nassau Class B girls’ lacrosse playoffs, a dominant performance on draws and a relentless transition game led host Lynbrook to a convincing 16-7 victory over MacArthur on May 17.

Junior Molly Carter added to her Long Island-leading offensive numbers with six goals and three assists, junior Kerrin Montgomery scored four goals and won 18 of 27 faceoffs, senior Zoe Simeone added a hat trick, and sophomore Sophia LoCicero had two goals and two assists to lead the Lady Owls, who scored 62 seconds into the game and never trailed. Sophomore Payton Napoli led the Lady Generals with three goals.

“We played a strong game and worked the entire 50 minutes,” Lynbrook coach Vinny Tetro said. “We brought a lot of energy. Our athleticism and speed can be tough to deal with. We didn’t know what to expect because MacArthur had an excellent regular season just like we did.”

Both teams lost just one conference game. Lynbrook (13-3 overall) fell in overtime to eventual Conference IV champion South Side after leading by five at halftime, while MacArthur (13-3), suffered its lone Conference III defeat to eventual champion Calhoun by two goals.

“The South Side game is still in our minds because we learned a lot from it,” Montgomery said. “We know that no halftime lead is safe. This playoff win meant a lot because we graduated 11 seniors last year and a lot of people doubted us coming into the season.”

Montgomery scored three goals in the first six minutes as the hosts built an early 5-2 lead. Her performance on draws in the first half (12-3) kept the visitors from getting any closer.

“We scrimmaged Lynbrook earlier in the year and watched some film, and we knew draws would play an important role,” Lady Generals coach Dan Agovino said. “I was proud with how we contested most of the draws, but we didn’t get into our game flow like we usually do.

“There were a couple of times we started to creep back, but we hit some posts and their goalie made some big saves,” he added. “Against a good team like Lynbrook, you’ve got to bury those shots.”

Sophomore goalie Hope Germanakos made 10 saves for Lynbrook, which led 10-4 at intermission after Carter set up Montgomery’s fourth goal with five seconds remaining in the first half. 

Goals by Simeone and Carter within the first 1:41 of the second half stretched the margin to eight, but MacArthur answered quickly with goals by Napoli and junior Tara Brophy to get within 12-6 with more than 18 minutes remaining on the clock. However, only Brophy managed to get a shot past Germanakos the rest of the way as Lynbrook advanced to meet top-seeded Garden City in the quarterfinals.

“It’s great to win a home playoff game and everyone played a role,” Tetro said.