The Wantagh girls’ lacrosse team started the season off strong in March, and there are no signs of the team losing its strength and spirit. Led by Coach Bobbi Colavita and Assistant Coach Ody Svolos, the Warriors stand in first place with an 8-0 record in Conference B-II ( 9-3 overall).
The girls reeled off five straight wins after an non-league opening loss to defending seven-time Class A county champ Farmingdale, 12-10. The team won impressively, 19-2, over Lynbrook, March 21. It was a team effort against Lynbrook, with 11 different players scoring goals to ensure the win. Junior Colleen Lovett (who has committed to Georgetown University) led the Warriors with four goals and three assists, along with seniors Kaleigh Craig (who will attend Northwestern University next year) and Tara Basile who each added three goals and one assist to the Warriors’ victory. The Warriors continued to play tough, defeating South Side 18-10, March 28. Lovett led the scoring with six goals, along with Kaleigh Craig with four, and Allie McClain, Tara Basile, Erin Pugh and Brenna Connolly who each scored two goals each.
After a victorious month, the team didn’t slow down in April. A 15-13 win over West Babylon on April 2 proved that the Warriors would continue to battle. This was a huge win over a top Suffolk team. The Warriors avenged a semifinal playoff defeat from last year by winning an intense battle against Manhasset, 12-11, April 4. Wantagh trailed 11-10 with only 4:05 left, yet senior Kaleigh Craig tied the game with only 3:26 remaining. The goal quickly changed the mood of the game. Evidently, senior Cassidy Meaney scored the Warriors’ winning goal on a pass from Lovett with only 1:06 remaining in the game. The girls took their energy from the Manhasset victory and applied it to their April 10 triumph over Plainedge, 19-12. Pugh led the scoring with an outstanding six goals; following closely behind were McClain with five goals, Lovett with four goals, and Ali Hooker, Catie Ingrilli (who has committed to Northwestern University next year), Kaleigh Craig, and T Basile, who each added one goal. A close non-league defeat on April 12 to North Shore, 14-13, may have ended their winning streak, but it didn’t seem to weigh on their minds for long- the Warriors went on to defeat Calhoun, 17-7, April 18.
With a handful of games left in the season, the Warriors are on track to continue thriving- in the regular season and in playoffs. With the great saves of junior goalie Sophia Gambitsky and senior Emily Akley, the team is on top of their game this year. Seniors Meaney, McClain, Craig, Emily Akley, Kate Sneddon and Basile have proven the great players they are in their last season as Warriors.
The Warriors dropped a close non-league contest to Massapequa, 16-15 but came back with league victories over Long Beach 15-10, led by McClain’s four goals, and a 15-8 win over Division.
The Warriors final week of the season was described by Coach Svolos as hell week, where the Warriors took on defending Class B state champ Garden City, defending Class A state champ Northport, and two-time Suffolk County Class A finalist Bay Shore.
The Warriors survived hell week with a double overtime win over Northport, 12-11, and close losses to Bay Shore 10-8 and Garden City. 14-10. Wantagh got a piece of the conference championship as it finished in a three-way tie with Manhasset and Garden City. The Warriors won their first two playoff games in convincing fashion over Bethpage, 18-3 and South Side, 18-5. The team’s leading playoff scorers in those first two games were Lovett, 9 goals and 11 assists; Craig, 8 goals and 3 assists and Ingrilli, 5 goals and one assist. Gambitsky had 12 saves in the two games. Wantagh takes on Manhasset Wednesday at Adelphi University in the playoff semifinals.