Garden City girls lacrosse's mission statement: To return home with title this time

Garden City senior goalie Niamh Pfaff had three objectives for her high school lacrosse career:

A county title. Check.

A Long Island title. Check. 

A state title. Check back in a couple of months.

“There’s one thing I’m hoping to check off,” Pfaff said. “This year is my last chance to do it.”

In 2022, the Trojans lost an epic battle with Westhampton in the Long Island championship game, a 6-5 decision after six overtimes. 

“I think it’s almost impossible to come any closer to getting to the state tournament than we did two years ago,” Pfaff said. “We played almost an extra 35 minutes of lacrosse that game.”

Senior attack Maureen Arendt said that after that loss, the returning players made it their goal to come back and win the Long Island Class B crown.

“I’ll never forget that feeling I felt that day,” Arendt said. “There was a sense of vengeance, and we never wanted to experience that feeling again.”

That motivation helped Garden City defeat West Islip in last season’s Long Island championship. The Trojans were headed to SUNY Cortland for a shot at becoming state champions.

A win over West Genesee in the semifinals brought them to their final matchup of the season against defending state champion Victor. But when the 50 minutes of gameplay was up, Victor prevailed, 8-6. 

“In some ways, being so close to it almost hurt more,” Pfaff said. “Watching the other team celebrate and knowing that it could’ve been you if a few things had gone differently was really hard.”

“It just felt like a sense of emptiness,” Arendt said. “Getting that far and not being able to finalize on it was tough to accept.”

Fast forward to this season and Garden City is using all of that as motivation. The team feels more prepared than ever to bring home that state championship trophy. The Trojans last won it all in 2017. 

“This year is definitely going to be different,” senior defender Mabel Overbeck said.“It’s our year to get the job done.”

With eight seniors on their roster and 10 of 12 starters remaining the same, Pfaff says that having a more experienced team gives them an edge.

“Having the majority of our starters returning, it feels like we’re a little ahead of where we were last year,” she said. “Now we know what it takes to get back there and what it’s like playing in such a high-pressure game.”

Arendt says that the chemistry the team has built over the years is another strength of the team.

“It’s a really special thing to be surrounded by a group of girls you call your sisters,” she said. “Our connection is something I think will carry us far this season.”

So far, so good. Despite a challenging non-conference schedule to start the season, the team is off to a hot start with three wins over reigning state Class C titlist Bayport-Blue Point, Ward Melville — a team it lost to the last two years — and Radnor (Pennsylvania). 

“Starting with three non-league wins is huge for us,” Arendt said. “It’s given us a massive boost in confidence that we have the ability to play against anyone.”

Coach Dave Ettinger has preached to his team that the focus is winning their last game of the season.

“The goal this year is to get back there and change the result,” he said of the state final. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to take hard work that didn’t start in March, but started the second we lost that last game.”

Pfaff echoed that sentiment. 

"I don't know if I can put into words how bad we want this," she said. "This is the one thing that's left before I graduate, and I believe this is the team that'll do it."