St. Anthony's girls lacrosse wins seventh straight CHSAA title
St. Anthony's players celebrate after winning the NSCHSAA AAA girls lacrosse championship against Kellenberg at Farmingdale State College on Saturday, May 16, 2026. Credit: Derrick Dingle
Some may get tired of watching the same ending, but St. Anthony’s girls lacrosse certainly doesn’t share that sentiment.
The Friars won their seventh consecutive CHSAA Class AA title, defeating Kellenberg, 13-4, on Saturday night at Farmingdale State.
“We go into every game with the same attitude,” senior attack Anna Christie said. ”We all want this same outcome. We know we have to do it as a team to make that happen.”
Molly Montagano and Kailyn Mastrogiovanni scored the first two goals in the first quarter to put Kellenberg ahead. The Friars seized control from that point, with goals from Christie, a Notre Dame commit, and UMass commit Madison Sussi tying it. The same duo scored the next two goals and St. Anthony’s led 4-2 after the first.
“Every team wants to beat us,” Christie said. “Kellenberg came out hot and we knew we had to clean up our mistakes to take the lead.”
Christie scored her third goal of the first half three minutes into the second quarter. Florida commit Emma Speed scored back-to-back goals for the Friars and Princeton commit Cameron Pupke added another, giving St. Anthony’s an 8-2 halftime lead.
“We adjusted well to how Kellenberg came out,” Speed said. "We stayed calm and started playing our game.”
St. Anthony’s got a goal from Stony Brook commit Meadow Szillus to start the third and Pupke added another as the Friars ended the third with a 10-3 lead.
“From the first day, everyone on this team wanted to work their hardest,” senior defender Sophia Novelli said. “Everyone wanted to work towards moments like this one.”
Speed, who was named league MVP, scored the final goal for St. Anthony’s. Stony Brook commit Sofia Moschitta made seven saves and was named MVP of the final.
“The defense took off during the game. We were talking defensively and picking up one another,” Novelli said. “We couldn’t have done it without Sofia Moschitta in net. She was making all the stops.”
St. Anthony’s (17-1) suffered its first defeat in the last three seasons, dropping a one-point overtime matchup to Darien (Connecticut), the No. 1 ranked public school, this year. It was the first loss for the Friars under coach Darcy Messina. Kellenberg finished at 11-6.
“I think we did a good job of coming into practice every day and working hard,” Speed said. “Our coaches do a good job helping us prepare for the following game, win or lose.”
The Friars didn’t let the loss linger, instead they earned 14 straight victories and a league title. Messina credits her captains, Speed, Christie and Novelli, for helping guide the team to success.
“Our captains really deserve a shoutout. We couldn’t have done it without those three,” Messina said. “I’m proud of the entire team for responding the St. Anthony’s way. For showing up and showing out for each other.”
Christopher Matias covers high school sports for Newsday after spending time in Athletic Facilities and Operation at St. John’s and in Sports Information at CUNY York college.
