Caitlin Barrett, Holly Newman key Manhasset girls lacrosse to Nassau 'C' title over North Shore in OT

Just trade a lacrosse stick and a net on turf for a basketball and a hoop on the hardwood and Caitlin Barrett found herself in a near identical situation a few months ago.

Barrett made a tying free throw with 0.2 seconds left in Manhasset’s Long Island Class A girls basketball championship on March 11. Less than three months later, the Manhasset senior was standing for an 8-meter shot with Manhasset trailing by a goal in the Nassau Class C girls lacrosse final. She heard her teammates on the sideline comment about how she made a tying shot to force overtime before in a championship game and that she could do so again.

Barrett did just that. She buried the tying goal — her fifth of the game —  with eight seconds left in the second half. 

“It’s just crazy,” Barrett said. “I definitely thought about that and I knew that I could handle that kind of pressure. And it worked out.”

Third-seeded Manhasset went on to defeat top-seeded North Shore, 13-12, in overtime in the Nassau Class C girls lacrosse championship at Adelphi on Thursday evening.

Manhasset (9-6) advances to play Bayport-Blue Point (17-0) in the Long Island Class C championship/Southeast Regional Final at 6 p.m. on Sunday at Adelphi. Kylee Colbert had seven goals for North Shore (16-3).

Holly Newman, who had four goals, scored the winning goal with 1:20 left in overtime off an assist from Barrett. Newman intended on finding a way to get the ball back to Barrett as the first option, but once that was getting shut down, the junior midfielder became determined to be the final option.

“The goal was to get the ball to Caitlin Barrett but she was getting triple-teamed so I saw my lane and I just took it to goal,” Newman said. “I saw it and went for it and ended up on top. It felt absolutely incredible.”

Newman’s goal was set up by a caused turnover and ground ball by Madeleine Chun with 2:25 left in overtime. Chun said the offensive player actually got past her, but when she saw the opportunity to force a turnover, Chun pounced.

“Being able to be that catalyst and to be able to set that spark for our team to be where we are now is just incredible,” Chun said. “When I saw that opportunity and that split second, I saw it and I ran with it.”

Manhasset, the defending state Class C champion, trailed 12-9 before scoring three goals in the final 5:46 in the victory. It’s Manhasset’s fifth straight county championship, including third straight Nassau Class C title. 

“We never stopped fighting,” coach Meghan Clarke said. “And that’s the biggest thing and the turning point of the game is that we can get ourselves down a couple of goals but these kids will do anything to fight back.”

This hasn’t been an easy year for the defending state Class C champions. Manhasset has suffered significant injuries throughout the season. The team has found itself trailing in more games than it may have expected entering the year. But in a way, that adversity helped on Thursday.

“We’ve dug ourselves in holes before and we’ve come out on top so I definitely had faith that we were going to be able to do the same,” Newman said. “We all put in all of our effort to get this win together.”

Shea Panzik and Taylor Gordon each added two goals and Mia LoPinto had three assists for Manhasset.

Alexandra Maliagros caused a turnover with 33.8 seconds left in the second half before Barrett’s tying goal. North Shore didn’t make Barrett’s run to the goal easy, but she was willing to do whatever she needed to create a scoring opportunity.

“I was determined,” Barrett said. “I think I felt the same when I was playing basketball. When we were down, I knew we could get the ball back and there were no tears in my eyes at all. I knew that we could fight to the end and we’d fight back.”

“I would take 100 of her,” Clarke said. “With her on the 8-meter, it’s kind of like her on the foul line shooting in a (Long Island) championship and I have all the confidence in that kid. I knew she was going to bury it.”

Manhasset and Bayport-Blue Point have met in the last three Long Island Class C championships. Manhasset won last year and BBP won the year prior. 

“It’s definitely going to be a great game,” Barrett said. “It’s going to be a huge game and I think if we really focus on ourselves and focus on the little things that we did wrong in this game and improve on those, we can really better ourselves for the Bayport game and come out with a win.”