O'Brien, Doherty spark Massapequa

The roles for each member of the Massapequa girls lacrosse team are clearly defined: to make each other look good.

This is achieved by methodically moving the ball around the field with quick, precise passes to find the open player, resulting in a very balanced offense predicated not on goals, but assists. With so many different weapons on one team, you never know who might come away looking the best.

In Wednesday's 16-12 win over Port Washington at John. J. Burns Park in Massapequa, it was Kelsey O'Brien and Danielle Doherty. They each had four goals and two assists, and helped the Chiefs improve to 5-0 in Conference A-I.

"You always know that if you cut, there's somebody that is going to find you and you'll be able to finish it," O'Brien said. "And if you make the feed, there's going to be finishers out there that can put it in the cage and get you the assist, which feels just as great."

After Jackie Froccaro and Kaitlyn Brown each scored to cut the Massapequa lead to 13-10 with 11:38 left, Doherty scored on a free position three minutes later. She added her fourth goal with 4:28 to go then found a cutting O'Brien for another goal just 1:14 later to seal the win.

"Our main goal is to move the ball," Doherty said. "More than half of our goals are off assists every game, basically. We don't have to rely on one person."

Of the 16 Massapequa goals, 11 were assisted, led by Maddy Pimental, who recorded all five of her assists -- as well as two goals -- in the first half.

SEE PHOTOSMassapequa 16, Port Washington 12

"When I come down the field I try to get my head up and see if there's another option, a person who's in a better position to score," Pimental said. "I was just connecting with all my teammates."

Alexa Froccaro scored five of her six goals in the first half for Port Washington (3-2), capped by a beautiful goal in which she spun away from three defenders and fired a shot just inside the far post to tie the score at 7 with 7:57 left in the first half.

But Massapequa closed the half with four unanswered goals to take an 11-7 lead into the break. It continued to dominate draw controls and ball possession in the second half.

"We like to share the ball," Massapequa coach Megan Zimmer said. "We don't want to have any one person taking control of the game. We want all seven to be active in the offense."

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And look good while doing it.