Generi, Thoden a magical tandem for BBP

Loren Generi, only 54 seconds into the game, broke away from the faceoff and sprinted from midfield to the net, flashing some of her best cuts and turns, to score Bayport-Bluepoint's first goal. Two minutes later, teammate Christy Thoden found Generi's stick through a wave of Patchogue-Medford defenders for another quick Phantoms score.

For the two seniors, the 2011 season couldn't have gotten off to a better start.

In the season-opener for both teams, Generi and Thoden totaled an impressive 19 points in the Phantoms' comfortable 20-8 win over the Raiders.

Generi scored six goals and recorded five assists, and Thoden added four goals and four assists. Of the 10 goals the pair tallied, two of them came off passes from each other.

"You see it in practice," Bayport coach Ryan Gick said of the dynamic between the two. "We like to let our players play at practice and with , there's a connection. They're a good 1-2 punch for us."

Generi said that she and Thoden have been playing lacrosse together since they were in the fourth grade and that the familiarity has made it easier for them on the varsity level.

Thoden, adding to that, said, "We've been playing so long together; we know how each other plays, so it's good."

SEE PHOTOSBayport 20, Patchogue-Medford 8

"Good" might be an understatement.

Generi and Thoden clicked throughout the game, sometimes making passes to each other to set up plays near the goal, and other times making tough defensive stands. Even with all the running back and forth, the duo hardly showed any fatigue.

"It feels great," Generi said of the victory. "We've worked so hard to get to this point."

Bayport, a Suffolk Division II team, begins league play Wednesday against Sayville -- its rival that's currently 2-0 and has outscored opponents 37-10.

Despite having a tough league schedule ahead of them, the Phantoms' show of superior ballhandling and dominant defense against Patchogue-Medford might have some teams less eager to face them.

Besides, few teams have a twosome as terrific as Generi and Thoden.

The midfielders were part of last year's team that reached the Suffolk Class C final, falling, 15-10, to a Shoreham-Wading River team that won a seventh county championship and went on to win a state title. As a senior, Generi hopes that this year's team can make a similar run in the playoffs -- except this time win the county final.

"Ever since the eighth grade, we've gotten better and the seniors are so good this year," Generi said. "Bayport-Blue Point has never won a county final before, so I want the team to win counties this year."

Surprisingly, Thoden's goal for her senior year didn't exactly match her buddy's. "I hope we stay together as a team," she said, "work together to win games and don't get too confident."

But with such a potent combo in the midfield, a little confidence might not hurt so much.