Berglin has 20 saves to boost North Shore

Jennie Berglin is so good . . .

(How good is she?)

So good, she made a career-high 20 saves in containing a potent offense. So good, much of the sideline commentary Tuesday, even among supporters of the opposition, was about her dynamic play in North Shore's 19-11 win over Locust Valley in girls lacrosse.

So good, but the senior's first words when asked to describe her performance were: "My defense did a great job of forcing [contested] shots that are easy for a goalie to save."

True of some, but not all were gimmes. There were lunging stabs, crouching saves and a few point-blank stops of balls rifled, including three in the final 51 seconds of the first half. And several times in the second half, when it seemed safe to shoot, Berglin's reflexes said otherwise.

"She's amazing," teammate Carly Comitino said. "Every time you looked back, there was a ball deflecting off her."

And quite often when you looked ahead, there was Amanda Johansen weaving through the defense. The midfielder had four goals and four assists to lead the Vikings (6-1, 4-0), who had little trouble handling the steady downpour and sodden field -- or their Conference C rival. Lauren Janelli added three goals and three assists. Comitino scored four goals, including two in the first four minutes as North Shore took a 4-0 lead.

SEE PHOTOSNorth Shore 19, Locust Valley 11

Locust Valley pulled within 10-8 on Julia Palermo's goal with 22:47 left, but Meaghan Brennan answered at 21:05. Johansen scored on a breakaway -- outrunning everyone from end to end -- to make it 12-8, and the Vikings pulled away.

Taylor Bleistein had four goals, Stephanie Lucidi three and Bairre Reilly had two goals and two assists for the Falcons (4-2, 2-2).

"They're some of the better competition in our conference," Vikings coach Sarah Hogan said.

Locust Valley had given first-place Cold Spring Harbor a scare in a 10-9 loss last week.

SEE PHOTOS2011 girls lacrosse players to watch

"But our goalie stepped up and we had nine scorers, which is always good," Hogan said.

So good, the self-proclaimed "girly-girls" treated themselves to the salon afterward.

"That's our team," Berglin said. "We go all out and don't care if we're flying into mud. Then when it's over, we go get manicures."