Generi's 11 points lead Bayport-BP girls

When it's your day, it's your day. When you get conked in the head with a stick, fall down and still manage to score on the play, it's most certainly your day.

As if Loren Generi hadn't already seized the afternoon. The senior tied a career high with six goals and dished five assists as Bayport-Blue Point dominated, 20-8, Saturday in its season-opener against Patchogue-Medford in girls lacrosse.

The non-league game, essentially, had been decided long before Generi notched her last tally to make it 19-7 with 5:13 left, but that play was her exclamation point. Going laterally inside the 10, she wove through a cluster of defenders, got whacked inadvertently, then fired while stumbling to the turf.

"I was a little [dazed] but I saw the goal so I was able to place the shot," Generi said with an it's-what-I-do shrug. After all, she has scored more than 260 times in her career.

Christy Thoden added four goals and four assists, two of which went to Generi. The friends, whose connection coach Ryan Gick described as "a sixth sense for each other," have been working the pitch-and-goal since they were in fourth grade.

"We used to play in her backyard almost every weekend," Thoden said. "That helps with chemistry."

Generi scored the game's first two goals and then, off a feed from Thoden, gave the Phantoms a 6-0 lead with a sharp, one-hop bouncer into the net at 9:41 in the first half.

"We always assist each other's goals," Generi said of her midfield partner. "We work so well together."

The teams hadn't faced each other since 2005 and, while Bayport made a playoff run last season, PM has struggled in recent years. Coach Ralph Tubello said his goal was for the Raiders to compete with an upper-echelon team and show improvement.

Alyssa Handel had three goals and an assist for the Raiders, who did have a spurt late in the half and pulled within 8-5 when Holly Ventimiglia (three goals) scored 2:20 before intermission. Thoden answered 43 seconds later, though.

Rachel O'Brien and Cassie Dooley each scored to open the second half and stretched the Phantoms' lead to 11-5, and from there they cruised. "Everybody's great at passing," Generi said. "We cleared space and made it easy [for each other]."

Courtney Dooley had three goals and three assists, O'Brien added two goals and three assists, Cassie Dooley and Cassie Stucklen each scored twice, and Julia Johnson had three assists. Kaitlyn Leahy made five saves in the win.

As well, Bayport's defense -- led by Johnson, Brianna Rubenstein, Molly Grube and Noreen McAllister -- clamped down in the 10-3 second half.

"We were high-pressure," Gick said. "Our girls worked their butts off."