Senior Midfielder Isabella Germani scored four goals, including the game-winner with a little more than three minutes to go in the game, in the girls lacrosse Suffolk County semi-final against hated Ward Melville. The Lady Tigers won 8-7 and, as they did last year, will play Nassau Champion Massapequa for the Long Island Title at Stony Brook University on Sunday June 5. The Lady Tigers have now won three straight Suffolk County Titles and will have a chance to compete for New York State Supremacy – a chance they did not have in 2020 or 2021 due to COVID-19.

In a game that was back and forth from start to finish and never saw either team build a lead larger that a single goal, Northport was able to emerge from the carnage and melted plastic turf with this win over the Lady Patriots despite bodies flying everywhere, every ball a contested sweaty mess, and a mad, protracted scramble in front of their net in the dying seconds of the game.  

Midfielder Ella Cabrera had two goals and two assists, Attacker Kaylie Mackiewicz had a goal and three total points and Lady Tee Goalkeeper Megan Morris had six saves including a scooping stop with ten seconds left in the game to preserve the win. On the play defender Emma Greenberg, an eighth grader was flattened and lay still on the turf for close to four minutes, as did Lady Pat Attacker Courtney Quinn who initiated this contact in a desperate attempt to tie the score.

“It was a crazy and exciting game and started to get really physical at the end because the score was so close,” said Cabrera, who will join the National Champion Lady Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina next year. “Both teams wanted to win be we knew we had to win it more.”

In addition the game -winner, Germani scored a crucially important goal with less than a minute to go in the half to make it 4-4.  Minute before W.M. appreared to have taken a 5-3 lead but the officials waved off a goal and Germani and the Lady Tigers took advantage.

Cabrera made it 5-4 early in the third but Ward Melville got two quick ones from Jilliann Gironda and M.J. Timpanaro to give Ward Melville their first lead of the second half.  Germani tied it up with 17 minutes left when she converted a lead pass from Cabrera and Northport wrested back the lead when Maciewicz spun and won going towards the cage with a little over 12 minutes to go.

Lady Pat Attacker Grace Balocca, who had three goals on the day, picked a great time to find the net. She scored with seven minutes to go and the score was tied…again…for the fifth time in the game.  Who would win?

Germani was angled wide and to the right of WM goalkeeper Ava Carrillo about 10 yards away from the net. She was surrounded by a trio of green-shirted defenders when she spun and ducked out from under their surveillance, darted towards the middle of the field and fired the yellow past Carrillo for the game-winning goal. 

“It feels amazing winning that game,” said Germani. “I’m so happy to have scored that game winning goal.”

As her teammate Julia Huxtable had done in the semi-finals, Germani scored four on the day.  It could be some other Lady Tiger against Massapequa as the team is bristling with stars.

“Having so many good players is what makes Northport Lacrosse so special,” said Cabrera. “We have so many great athletes and we are so lucky to be able to count on and trust every single player that gets on that field, to help us win.”

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