Westhampton Girls Lacrosse Team Eliminated In State Semifinals

For the Westhampton Beach girls lacrosse team, this time, an overtime-decided, come-from-behind, one-goal game did not go their way, as the Hurricanes’ historic run came to an end with a 9-8 loss to Queensbury in the Class B state semifinals at SUNY Cortland on Friday, June 10.

“Obviously, I am extremely upset that my high school career came to an end. It feels weird saying it,” said senior midfielder Olivia Rongo (two goals, two assists). “But while it hurts that my last game ended in overtime all the way up in Cortland, I’m also really proud that we made it here.”

Queensbury (17-1) bounced out front 4-0 before Rongo scored back-to-back free position goals to cut the lead in half heading into the break. Her first shot, a piece of which was tipped, hit its mark with 10:33 to go. Her next goal off a penalty came two-and-a-half minutes later.

“Putting us on the scoreboard felt amazing, but I think that we didn’t play up to our potential in the first half, like usual,” Rongo said. “But we also all handled it how we usually do. We realized that we were blowing it, and then got ourselves together and picked it up.”

Action in the second began with senior attack Lily Berchin’s crash to force a turnover. That possession led to Rongo’s pass to freshman Reese King from the goal line extended. King, with the defender crossing to her right, caught the pass where her opponent was and shot it from where she wasn’t, with a behind-the-back score at 23:33 to provide the spark the Hurricanes (13-7) needed.

With man-to-man pressure on them after the ensuing faceoff win, King was next to dish off the ball for a goal. The midfielder fed junior attack Samantha Shaumloffel an inside pass at 22:18 for game game-tying score.

“We all came together and told each other to take a deep breath and remember that we made it to this point because we deserved to,” senior defender Mia Failla said. “I felt like we were getting back into our groove. I was very proud of our attackers and middies for picking their heads up and finishing on the offensive end. When we started to make our comeback, I felt the momentum shift to our side.”

Westhampton couldn’t take the lead, though, with Queensbury rattling off another three straight before Berchin bounced in her free position shot on the fourth straight attempt with 9:23 on the clock to once again close the gap to two, 7-5.

“Our team is a second-half team — we always seem to let it slip, but we redeem ourselves somehow — so going into the second half, we knew we had to step on the gas and play our game,” Berchin said. “We talked about and created a ‘reset button’ that you press to forget about your mistakes and you move on with the game. Once we got over our mistakes, we started to play better as a team, and as the season went on, we built each other up with words and wisdom and just left our hearts out on the field. We worked our tails off to make it this far.”

The draws proved to be the difference late, with Rongo scooping up the ball of the next battle in the circle, which led to eighth-grader Ava Derby finding junior midfielder and defender Reilly Mahon on a cross in front of the cage, but Mahon was hit. She bounced in her free position shot down low, but Queensbury countered with a quick goal a minute later to stop another Hurricanes scoring spurt.

Westhampton yet again won the draw, and although the ball was lost behind the cage, another crash by Berchin and ground-ball scoop earned her team another chance with 5:43 on the board. Mahon rocketed a shot at 5:29 from close range to the right side of the goal, and, after King scooped up possession off the next draw, Derby blasted the game-tying shot up front 29 seconds later to make it 8-all with five minutes left.

“This whole experience was very humbling,” Failla said. “Coming back from a four-goal deficient in the beginning and battling our way to a tied game, I was proud of us and confident in our ability, especially heading into overtime a man up. I was really proud of all my teammates for keeping their heads up and working together to fight back.”

With 1:39 left in overtime, Kady Duffy scored her fifth goal of the game on a free position shot to send Queensbury to the final round against Victor, where the team fell, 14-5.

“It is definitely bittersweet, and I am sad to leave this program, but I am thankful for how it has helped me develop as a person and all of the opportunities that the game of lacrosse has opened for me,” Failla said. “Especially since it was the first time Westhampton Beach was there, I couldn’t help my thoughts drifting to my little sister, hoping she would get to experience this one day, too.”

Westhampton Beach won five one-goal games this season. The last three were monumental ones, and all 6-5 victories — the last two coming in overtime. A 6-5 win over No. 3 West Babylon on May 17, propelled the No. 2 Hurricanes into the Suffolk County Class B final. Westhampton had only made it to the finals once, in 2018, as a Class A team. Just three days later, the Hurricanes claimed the first county crown in school history with a double overtime win over No. 1-seeded Comsewogue. Then came a dazzling 6-5 win over 25-time state champion Garden City in a sixth overtime period.

“It’s hard not to be disappointed after a loss, but I asked them if 12 weeks ago they thought we would be here, and they all said no,” head coach Mary Bergmann said. “Their goal at the start of the year was to make it further than they did last year, and they did that and so much more.”

The team will lose Berchin, who is looking to play for a club team while at Fairfield University; Failla, who is headed to play for Duquesne University in the fall; Rongo, who will compete for James Madison University; and Madison Mosher, a senior midfielder bound for the West Chester University lacrosse team.

Failla said the team learned a lot from its three straight one-goal losses at the end of April, saying she and her Hurricanes were stronger at the end of the season because of it.

“The experience that the Westhampton Beach lacrosse program has given me is invaluable. I learned that it matters more how hard you are willing to work to accomplish your goals. You make your own success,” she said. “I have always been taught that it is important to be a servant to your community, and I couldn’t be prouder to serve and represent Westhampton Beach. It has been an honor. The past four years have not been easy — we have had our ups and downs as a team, we have had our disappointments and we had the COVID-19 pandemic-affected year — but all of that taught me that it is possible to come out stronger than before.”