SWR remembered how to become a champion

By learning how to lose, the Shoreham-Wading River girls lacrosse team remembered how to be champion.

The Wildcats had only three losses this season, but we're not really talking about those. It was the little losses -- a muffed draw control, a too-easy goal, getting beaten on the fast break -- that went in Shoreham's big book of bouncebacks. Sure, their opponents would get this one. But the next one? Well, check out what happened then . . .

Shoreham defeats Mount Sinai in the Suffolk Class C final:

Flip the book to the day marked "April 17." Shoreham needed to make a statement against Mount Sinai -- the team that won the Class C crown last year after the Wildcats, perpetual champs, were bumped to Class B. It didn't happen.

When it came down to a rematch at the county championship, coach Mary Bergmann used what she had -- time. As the one seed, Shoreham had a nearly three-week lag between games, meaning Bergmann would use all that time to condition. If the Mustangs were fast, they would be faster. They rotated four midfielders in three spots, pressuring till nearly the very end. It worked.

Shoreham defeats North Shore in Long Island Championship:

Shoreham knew of Cold Spring Harbor's county championship woes. That team had staked a sizable lead before watching North Shore will it away. Sure enough, against Shoreham, the same thing was starting to happen -- a few goals, lost possessions and suddenly, a six-goal lead had whittled itself down to two with little more than seven minutes to play. But the Wildcats had learned that for mercurial North Shore, it was a battle of momentum. A quick goal by Shannon Rosati and a big forced turnover by Lauren Lustgarten, and suddenly, North Shore had lost its mojo and the game.

Shoreham defeats Syracuse's Christian Brothers Academy in the state semifinal:

Shoreham nearly coughed up a seven-goal lead against a team that, at the end, was playing six girls down. They were losing draw controls, not controlling possession and "getting comfortable," Bergmann said. Realizing that even with such a huge player advantage, they were in danger of losing it all, the fevered Wildcats didn't make the "comfortable" mistake again. After struggling to solve the Brothers' Marisa Romeo, Daly left it to heart-thumping instinct - making back-to-back saves on point blank shots in the final seconds.

Shoreham defeats Honeoye Falls-Lima in the state final:

The Wildcats used everything they had and everything they'd learned to bring home a title. When they came out sluggish in the first half, they knew they had to play quickly and tirelessly, like Mount Sinai. When they trailed by four early in the second half, they knew that leads like that could evaporate quickly, as taught to them by the lacrosse professors at North Shore. And when they played one and then two girls down for the second half, they knew it takes only one to score -- a truth so aptly demonstrated by the Christian Brothers Academy. The victorious huddle at the end? That was all Shoreham.

Epilogue:

Shoreham has pedigree -- it has won five state titles since 2007 -- but it's safe to say this one was a little different. Before games, the Wildcats would write a player's name on their arms -- "the girl that comes before you on the roster," Alex Fehmel said. "It's to remind us who we're playing for." And this season has been a little like that, too. Though the words aren't written on the Class C plaque, Shoreham, the team as smart as it was talented, capitalized on the lessons it learned from the teams that came before. Those hard-fought victories served as reminder of what they were playing for.

The word that is actually on the plaque? Well, that would be "champions."