Upstart North Shore making headlines

Led by two-time All-American Kylee Colbert and first-year coach Jaclyn Stevens, the North Shore girls’ lacrosse team has made history. And wants to make more. 

On April 11, North Shore traveled to Garden City and upset the powerhouse Trojans, 12-8, for the Vikings’ first victory over that school in 28 years.

 The squad, buoyed by senior defensemen Eliza Ritter and junior Hannah Gilliam, is off to a 9-1 start, 4-0 in Nassau’s top ability based conference. 

“I think we can, honestly, with the personnel we have and if we play as a team, we can take it all the way in counties,’’ Stevens said. “After that Garden City win, it was a good confidence builder. They really truly believe how good they are.’’

Stevens took over for former coach Meg McCormick, who was recently promoted to principal of Sea Cliff School. A veteran lacrosse coach, Stevens guided Wantagh from 2014 to 2016, including winning its first-ever county title in 2015, then became a Plainedge assistant the past six seasons. 

“She’s great,’’ tri-captain Ritter said of the new coach. “She’s brought some well-needed energy to the team. We’re working on things we’ve never worked on before. She really has pulled the team together.’’

North Shore won just one playoff match last spring but with Colbert getting support, it may be just good enough to win the Nassau Class C title. 

Colbert, who will attend Boston College on a lacrosse scholarship, is one of the top goal scorers on Long Island. 

She has netted 48 goals with nine assists, prompting the coach to say, “Kylee is the best high school lacrosse player I’ve ever seen.’’

But the beauty of these Vikings is contributions coming from different places. Its latest victory, last Saturday over Long Beach, 12-8, was a good example. The Vikings got four unexpected goals from role player, junior Kaila Van Cott, who already has committed to the University of Chicago.

“We try to tell them we’re going to be good with (Kylee) but great if everyone is a threat,’’ Stevens said. “They come to shut her down and triple team her, so then we have to step up. That’s what we’ve been doing with all the girls having a lot more confidence. We’re pushing that team-first mentality.’’

While North Shore was respectable last spring, this blazing hot start was not predicted. 

“Definitely some of the things that have happened this year has been surprising – the Garden City thing was huge for the team,’’ said Ritter, who committed to Connecticut College for lacrosse. “But from the beginning, we were electric. We knew it could be possible to beat some of these teams like Garden City.’’ 

 A star basketball player, Colbert is getting strong support from her roundball teammate, attacker Ava Bartoli, who has 19 goals 17 assists and is headed to Bryant University for lacrosse. .

Daniela Martini, an attacker, has 23 goals and 13 assists. Van Cott seems to step up her scoring when the team needs her most – similar to what Josh Hart does for the surging Knicks. Martini is committed to Haverford.

For all the scoring, defense, the coach said, is the biggest key for the Vikings, who have built a fortress around goaltender Alexandra Mele. The team is allowing just 9 goals per game. The defensive play of Ritter-Gilliam has been exemplary. 

“The defense as a whole is holding it down,’’ Stevens said. (Ritter-Gilliam) are our anchor defenders. They’re different types of players but they lock the top two players down.’’

Ritter says the challenge of facing a superstar such as Colbert in practice has sharpened the defenders. “Our defense in total is working well together,’’ Ritter said. 

If this continues, the maroon may be joining the Vikings football team with a county title.