Shoreham-Wading River's Carlie Cutinella will always remember these four goals

Any time Carlie Cutinella gets the opportunity to play or train on the Shoreham-Wading River turf field named after her brother is a special moment for her. It gives her another chance to feel close and connected with him. And with Saturday being Senior Day and her final time playing a regular-season varsity lacrosse game on the Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field, Cutinella wanted a performance to remember.

Mission accomplished.

Cutinella, a senior midfielder, scored a season-high four goals as host Shoreham-Wading River defeated Mount Sinai, 13-11, in Suffolk Division II girls lacrosse on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Thomas Cutinella, Carlie’s older brother, died after sustaining a head injury in a high school football game in 2014 during his junior season.

“I write his name on my wrist every game, so he’s always my motivation,” Cutinella said. “But playing on the turf and seeing his name, it strives me to always play for him and try to do everything for him because life is taken short for a lot of people, so you just have to play for those who can’t anymore.”

Saturday’s Senior Day brought additional emotions and motivation to Cutinella since Thomas never had a Senior Day of his own.

“Of course, because I wish he was here,” Cutinella said. “He didn’t get any of that so I’ll do it for him.”

Cutinella scored three of her four goals in the second half, including the Wildcats’ final goal to take a 13-10 lead with 4:10 remaining in the second half.

“I think this game meant a lot to her,” said coach Alex Fehmel fighting back tears. “I know every day she doesn’t leave practice without tapping his statue on the head. I think everything she does, a little of it she does for him, and I think a lot of the team knows that mentality and does that for him, too.”

Shoreham-Wading River (8-4) utilized a balanced offensive attack Saturday as Abigail Beran had three goals, Grayce Kitchen had two goals and an assist, Graceann Leonard had a goal and assist and Reese Marcario, Catherine Erb and Annie Sheehan each added two points.

“These girls do some things sometimes that I’ve never seen them do and I’m like ‘Where was that all season?’” Fehmel said. “They never stop surprising me and that’s awesome.”

Mount Sinai (8-6) scored the final two goals of the first half to tie the score at 8. But the Wildcats opened the second half on a 4-1 run, taking a 12-9 lead with 13:20 remaining in the period following Leonard’s free-position goal.

“This was huge for us,” Beran said. “We could not wait to play this game.”

The Wildcats hope to host at least one playoff game, so Saturday may not be the last time Cutinella plays on the field named in honor of her brother. But she wanted to ensure that if it was, she would have a performance he’d be proud of.

“It helps me feel like I was doing it for him,” Cutinella said. “It helped alleviate that mindset of not wanting to fail so with it being Senior Day and being able to score four goals, it was a great accomplishment.”