Kate Ross' goal gives Long Island Lutheran girls a PSAA title

Long Island Lutheran needed an answer. It’s no surprise that it came from Kate Ross.

Lutheran had seen its five-goal halftime lead shrink to one in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Ross, the team’s leading scorer, hadn’t scored in the second half after having two goals in the first half, but she saw a window of light near the crease. There wasn’t much unoccupied space, but Ross knew she could work with it.

Ross dodged to the cage, spun around two crashing defenders and scored the game’s final goal en route to an 8-6 victory for No. 2 Long Island Lutheran over top-seeded Stony Brook School in the PSAA girls lacrosse championship at Cantiague Park on Friday afternoon.

“We knew we needed to leave it all on the field,” Ross said. “We didn’t want to regret anything. It’s so special to win this with these girls. And we left it all on the field, as you can see.”

Ross scored with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter after Stony Brook scored five of the first six goals of the second half to cut Lutheran’s lead to 7-6.

“No matter how tired she might have been, it was just about finishing,” coach Denis Scannell said. “And she was ready to finish.”

Ross and Ella O’Hara each had three goals for Lutheran (9-4-1).

SEE PHOTOSPSAA championship: LI Lutheran vs. Stony Brook School

“They show up in the big games,” Scannell said. “The bright lights are what they look for, so they’re always ready.”

Natalia Pagano had a goal and three assists and Mia Trama had two goals and an assist for the Stony Brook School (8-5). Lutheran led 6-1 at halftime before Stony Brook responded with five goal scorers in the second half.

Caroline Hoschel scored with 3:20 left in the third quarter to give the Crusaders a 7-4 lead after Stony Brook scored the first three goals of the period. Payton Martin and Trama responded with back-to-back goals for Stony Brook. But Lutheran kept Stony Brook from scoring in the final eight minutes.

“We rallied our thoughts in and focused up,” O’Hara said. “The excitement can get to you and we can get out of control, but I think we managed to pull everyone back in.”

Mady Willocks, who had five saves in the final, was named postseason MVP after the victory, to her surprise.

“I really wasn’t expecting that, to be honest,” Willocks said. “I feel like there were a bunch of others who could have taken the MVP other than me. But I’m really proud of myself and I feel like I proved myself to my team and I’m really happy to help bring it home for them.”

This was Lutheran’s third straight PSAA title. Stony Brook, which won the regular season, and Lutheran will learn on Monday which team made the NYSAIS Tournament. They could both earn a spot, but only one of them is guaranteed a state tournament position.

“Year after year, we’ve had really strong senior leaders that have rallied us up and I know personally inspired me for once I got my senior year to take the baton and push through,” O’Hara said. “I’ve been on this team from freshman year and building it up year after year and wanting to continue that legacy is so important and has driven us all the way through.”