Long Beach experienced and deep

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Long Beach has become a fixture in the Nassau girls’ Class B lacrosse semifinals under coach Rachel Ray and played for the county title in 2017, falling to Garden City.

Ray said beating Garden City, which eliminated the Lady Marines in last year’s semis, and Cold Spring Harbor, remain on the program’s checklist as it looks to continue its success in the top conference.

“We’ve been getting to the show every year,” Ray said. “We broke through against Manhasset a few years ago and we’re still trying to find a way to beat Garden City and Cold Spring Harbor. It’s on our bucket list.”

Long Beach, which won seven games a year ago, opened 2019 with a 13-7 victory over Oceanside before coming up short against Massapequa and Syosset. All three of those opponents are in Class A. “It’s not our best start,” Ray said. “At the end of the day, losing to the large schools doesn’t hurt us but we still want to prove ourselves in this conference. We returned all but two starters. Our defense looks strong and it’s just a matter of getting our offense to take charge.”

For the first time in seven seasons, the Lady Marines are playing without Sarah Reznick in the cage. The former standout goalie is at the University of Florida, with freshman Sarah Gusler taking the reigns. “She’s been playing strong and with confidence and showing she can be a vocal leader,” Ray said of Gusler.

The lead communicator on defense, senior Daisy Willard, is back and “better than ever,” Ray said, after suffering a torn ACL last May. “Daisy’s a groundball machine and our best one-on-one defender,” the coach said. “She looks great so far.” Senior Charlotte Kile is an intense and steady backer in the zone scheme, and sophomores Rivers Cunningham and Maura Conway also have starting experience.

Spearheading the midfield is senior Lexie Correia, who is headed to Bryant University. She earned All-County honors in 2018 and scored all four Long Beach goals in the playoff loss to Garden City. “She’s such a powerful threat, I never want to take her off the field,” Ray said. “She has tremendous drive, mentality and athleticism.”

Senior Hannah Lewis is another major piece to the midfield puzzle and handles the majority of draws. In transition and between the 30s, senior Fiona Rafferty and freshman Cate Miller make things happen. Senior lefty Jillian Canner, who sees time at midfield and attack, is a strong dodger who shoots and passes with accuracy.

Getting the ball in the stick of shifty and creative junior attacker Maggie Reznick turns the key to the offense, Ray said. Coming off an Honorable Mention All-County campaign, Reznick opened this spring with six goals against Oceanside. “She’s a unique player and fun to watch,” Ray said. Delaney Radin scored some clutch goals last season as a seventh-grader on varsity and also starts on attack along with speedy sophomore Reagan Martinsen.