Laurel Bonn, back from injury, helps Huntington to season-opening victory

Laurel Bonn is plenty used to tests. Whether that’s on a field marking a top scorer or in the classroom. And regardless of where that exam takes place, Bonn is almost guaranteed to ace it. 

Bonn, a senior defender for Huntington, is the school’s valedictorian and top lockdown defender on a lacrosse field. She has an unweighted average of 99.58, which elevates to a 104.6 weighted average. But some of her toughest tests come outside school against an elite scorer.

Once again, Bonn proved ready for that examination in Huntington’s 11-7 victory over host Farmingdale in each team’s non-league girls lacrosse opener on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

“She just knows the game,” coach Katie Reilly said. “Her IQ is really good and she’s able to apply it right away. She can see something and adjust right away, which not everybody can do as quickly as she can. I definitely think her brain and her IQ help her to adapt on the fly maybe faster than other people would.”

Bonn, who is committed to play lacrosse at Binghamton as a biology major on a pre-dental track, had three caused turnovers Saturday. And she’s been looking forward to the season-opener even longer than most of her teammates after missing the majority of last season with a torn meniscus. 

But even from the sideline, Bonn was studying. 

“Although it stinks to be on the sideline, it definitely gives you another perspective,” Bonn said. “I think it helped my lacrosse IQ because I usually lead the defense. But from the sideline, I can see what we need to work on. What plays I need to make and how I can help my team so I can now apply that into my game.”

“Laurel is definitely the anchor of our defense so just having her back makes everyone feel just as comfortable to play around her,” said Gianna Forte, who had three goals and an assist. “We were able to listen to her, have her tell us what to do and a lot of the big plays were definitely because of her on the defensive end.”

Bridget Callery added four goals for Huntington and Briana Bellando had four goals and an assist for Farmingdale.

Huntington opened a 7-2 lead at halftime before Farmingdale scored the first three goals of the second half. But Forte scored the game’s next two goals in a span of 2:27 to give the Blue Devils a 9-5 lead with 11:03 left in the second half.

“That was huge,” Reilly said. “We needed to stop the bleeding there and I think that was huge that she took on her leadership role and kind of said, “‘I’ll take care of this.’”

Huntington lost in the Suffolk Class A quarterfinals last season but if the team’s core can stay healthy this year, the Blue Devils hope for a deep postseason run. Bonn’s return will be integral toward making that possible.

“She’s almost like a coach on the field,” Reilly said. “She’s huge for us. She’s intelligent, communicative and her stick skills are incredible. She knows the game really well so she’s definitely the anchor back there.”

Bonn wanted to prove she had completely recovered from her injury on Saturday.

“It was really satisfying,” she said. “Last season you start out and you work so hard. And then unfortunately I tore my meniscus and I was out the rest of the season with my surgery. Just to come back for my senior season after not playing last year, I knew I had to give it 110% because you never know when the season is going to end. I had to give it my all today.”