Westhampton Beach Girls Lacrosse Team Receives Long Island Championship Rings

Westhampton Beach senior Reilly Mahon said picking up her ring to commemorate her girls lacrosse team’s Long Island Championship win was “like holding a little piece of our huge accomplishment in our hands.”

“I know I, and the rest of the team, wanted to get a ring because it’s something we can have forever to remind us of that amazing season,” Mahon said. “Everyone being together again and celebrating another time was just the best feeling. The then-seniors were home from college and everyone in the same room just felt right.”

The girls got together at sophomore goalkeeper Maya Farnan’s house November 23 to open their gifts.

Freshman midfielder and attack Ava Derby said that upon viewing the ring she was instantly brought back to the sensation she had seeing then-junior defender Isabella Blanco’s shot go in during a sixth overtime session for the Hurricanes’ first Long Island title in program history.

“I was so overwhelmed with joy,” Derby said. “I remembered how good that feeling was … and the adrenaline rush I felt throughout that whole game.”

The Hurricanes fell to Queensbury in overtime, 9-8, in the Class B state semifinals at SUNY Cortland back in June, but that 6-5 victory over Nassau County’s Garden City capped a historic season for the school district. It was also the year Westhampton Beach (13-7), coming in as the No. 2 seed, earned the program’s first Suffolk County crown. The Hurricanes outlasted Comsewogue, 6-5, in double overtime for a redemption win that couldn’t have been any sweeter. Recent graduate Lily Berchin scored that game-winning goal.

“Our heads were up and down,” Berchin said, “but once our foot was on the gas we went for it.”

The dedicatory jewelry, made by Signature Championship Rings, is sterling silver with white and green diamonds. They have the Hurricanes logo front and center, surrounded by a circle of white diamonds that is then enclosed by the words Long Island on top and champions on bottom. There are two green diamonds on each side that extend into the band. On the left side of the band is each player’s last name and jersey number, and on the right is WHB 2022. Engraved on the bottom of the ring are the words “All In,” the team’s motto this past season.

“Receiving the ring felt great — like all of our hard work had paid off and we finally had a physical way of showing it,” recent graduate Olivia Rongo said. “And I was supper excited when opening the box. The anticipation of knowing what it looked like and felt like had been killing me for months.”

She, too, said a wave of emotions hit her being reconnected with her teammates, especially now as a Westhampton Beach alumna.

“When I look at my ring all of the memories will always come rushing back,” she said. “I think everyone on the team will always remember that win and our season, but having a ring to commemorate it is an amazing thing that so few people get the chance of having.”

Rongo said she talked with Mahon and head coach Mary Bergmann about the specifics of the ring, like what would go where, and then two ideas out to their teammates for a vote. They said they were all pleased with the end result.

“I think the design is perfect,” Mahon said. “It’s beautiful, and so cool looking. I wish I could wear it everywhere.”

“It’s a very pretty ring,” Derby added. “We all fell in love with one style and agreed on it. It is the perfect size.”

Bergmann also purchased a ring, and for her, it represents a sport and a season that was a light for her through a very difficult time. Her parents were both in the hospital in critical condition across all of her team’s championship wins. The girls, in support, dyed their hair purple and wrapped their ponytails and braids in blue ribbons — her mother’s favorite colors.

She unfortunately wasn’t at Farnan’s when the girls got their rings, because her parents’ funeral was less than a week before the Thanksgiving break, and she did not want the girls to have to wait any longer.

“I did get one because championships don’t come around that often,” she said. “I also had a very tough year, and lacrosse was the one bright spot, so I’m hoping that ring brings back the happy 2022 memories for me. The inside saying ‘all in,’ I think, is a really great way to remember a very special group of girls.”

Derby said she also purchased a ring to have something to memorialize the achievement.

“I am so grateful that I can have a lifetime worth of memories with this team,” she said. “Not just in the Long Island Championship game, but the whole season we had such great team chemistry and we all got along so well. That was a big part of going so far in the season. I would not have wanted to do it with any other team.”

The coach said the championship has helped the program tenfold, and a championship club was formed for girls looking to wear a ring one day.

“It’s important for the 2022 team to feel proud of what they accomplished and also to strive to get back there,” Bergmann said. “That’s really what the rings are all about — a reminder of what happened and what can happen when you work hard together.”

Derby and she and her teammates are already looking toward more championship games. Mahon said the Hurricanes are on a mission to do it again.

“I know myself and the rest of the team would kill to have a matching ring next year,” the senior said. “We know this season is going to be tough, but we are so excited and eager to utilize everyone and hopefully get to where we went this past season.”