North Shore girls lacrosse display team effort in win
Kylee Colbert of North Shore makes her way around Rosalie Haffner of Sacred Heart Academy during a girls lacrosse game on Saturday in Glen Head. Credit: Dawn McCormick
If Saturday’s performance is any indication, the North Shore girls lacrosse team will once again be a playoff contender.
The Vikings presented a complete team effort as they defeated visitor Sacred Heart, 15-9, behind nine assisted goals.
“You can tell by all of those assisted goals that if we play well together, are patient on attack and make those passes, we’re going to be successful,” coach Jaclyn Stevens said.
It was a see-saw match in the first half as North Shore (5-0) continuously answered each goal --- several times in under a minute --- to tie the score. But with 1:35 remaining, Kylee Colbert cut in front of the crease and received a pass from Daniela Martini. Colbert beat Sacred Heart’s goalkeeper Ava Lamantia in one fluid motion to put the Vikings up 7-6, their second lead since the opening goal.
“Their defense was very high pressure, they were moving from a zone [defense] to a man [defense] and it was difficult to know when they were in the man, so we realized that we just needed to keep adjusting to that throughout the rest of the game,” said Colbert, who scored seven of her nine goals in the first half.
The senior’s score gave North Shore a lead it would not relinquish over the ensuing 31 minutes. Ava Bartoli followed with a free position shot with 28 seconds left to increase the deficit before she went on to assist five goals in the second half.
“We definitely played with patience and smarts in the second half,” said Bartoli, who finished with six assists. “We started to move the ball around more and talk to each other. When we all work together, that’s when we play our best game.”
North Shore’s patience paid off. The Vikings scored four unanswered goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half as they dominated possession, thanks to a series of uninterrupted draw controls by Colbert. Goalkeeper Alex Mele made 10 saves in the win.
Colleen Thieke led Sacred Heart (2-1) with three goals.
“They played very selflessly today,” Stevens said. “This is the best performance we’ve seen from them so far. That was North Shore girls lacrosse.”
