Lena Riportella helped West Islip win a state title with a late goal.
Photo by Bob Sorensen
State championship games at SUNY Cortland were the backdrop for a day of dominance by Long Island, and, more specifically, Suffolk County (Section 11), which completed a clean sweep of the three girls lacrosse finals.
Here's a look, along with some other notes from championship week.
View all MaxPreps girls lacrosse playoff photo galleries from New York.View MaxPreps girls lacrosse tournament brackets for 2015.West Islip wins game of runs
In a back-and-forth battle between two powerhouses,
West Islip scored the last two goals of the game to edge
Suffern, 10-9, to win the Class A title.
Lena Riportella scored the game-winner with 2:07 remaining.
Suffern, which trailed 7-4 at the half, reeled off three straight to start the second half. After
Emily Piciullo put the Lions ahead 8-7, Suffern took a 9-8 lead on back-to-back goals by Regina Sharp and
Dana Gisonno before
Chelsea Sorahan tied it at 9-9 with eight minutes to go.
Piciullo, a junior attack who has committed to Jacksonville University, led the Lions with four goals. Sharp had three goals for the Mounties, who made the state final four for the third-straight year.
West Islip lost to West Genesee in last year's state final.
Sister act for ESMThe 15-8 win for
Eastport-South Manor (Manorville) over Section 1's
Somers (Lincolndale) in the Class B final gave the Sharks the first state title in program history.
University of Southern California-bound junior midfielder Kaeli Huff scored the first three goals of the game, leading the Sharks to an 8-2 halftime advantage. Huff, who was named tournament MVP, finished with six goals and an assist.
Huff's sophomore sister, Kelsey, finished with three goals as the Huff sisters accounted for 60 percent of the Sharks' goals.
But defense, and, in particular, the goaltending of six-year starter Samantha Giacolone, were just as critical to ESM's title-game success. Giacolone, who is headed to Notre Dame, finished with 10 saves.
Nicole Demase, a senior midfielder headed to Johns Hopkins, led Somers with four goals. It was the Tuskers' first state title game appearance.
D's the difference for Mount SinaiA strong defensive effort lifted
Mount Sinai to its second state title in the last three years, 8-5 over
Honeoye Falls-Lima in the Class C final.
Goaltender
Hannah VanMiddelem finished with five saves, backed by the outstanding defensive play of
Morgan McGrath and
Mary Ellen Carron.
The Mustangs (20-1) held opponents to five or less goals in 11 games and no opponent to reach double figures in scoring. Mount Sinai's lone loss was to CHSAA school St. Anthony's 8-7 in double overtime.
Mount Sinai's first state title came in 2013, capping a 20-0 season.
Kasey Mitchell led Mount Sinai offensively in the final with four goals.
Sydney Pirreca had three goals and an assist.
Defending champs stopped shortAll three of last year's state champs came up short this time around, with two losing in the state final four.
West Genesee (Camillus), which won the Class A state title last year, fell to West Islip 10-5 in the state semifinals in a rematch of the 2014 title game, won by West Genny 15-10.
Skaneateles, the 2014 Class C titlist, fell to eventual champion Mount Sinai 13-7 in the state semis.
Manhasset, which beat Victor in the 2014 Class B final, fell to Wantagh 9-6 in the Nassau County (Section 8 final).
Goal scorers hit century mark
In addition to taking all three state titles, Suffolk County also saw two super scorers surpass the 100-goal mark for the season.
Sam Apuzzo of
Babylon, a midfielder who is bound for Boston College, finished with 107 goals, and East Islip's Nicole Levy, an attack headed to Syracuse, wound up with 101 goals. Both are seniors.
Multimedia news and sports editor and producer Joe Lombardi is director of media initiatives and managing editor of the DailyVoice.com, as well as the primary author of the most recent edition of "Lacrosse for Dummies." Follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_Lombardi or e-mail jlombardi@dailyvoice.com.
