Wantagh girls lacrosse's Juliana Cerasi seals win over Syosset with late draw control
Juliana Cerasi of Wantagh looks for a teammate to pass to during a Nassau Conference I girls lacrosse game against Syosset on Tuesday at Wantagh. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The draw control can be an overlooked part of lacrosse when scouring box scores. Even though that’s not where the goals are finished, it’s where the opportunity for scoring begins. It can also be the place where a victory is secured, as witnessed at Wantagh High School on Tuesday afternoon.
Syosset had scored three goals in less than six minutes to cut Wantagh’s lead to one goal. When Juliana Cerasi made the walk to the draw circle with a little more than a minute remaining, she could feel this draw control meant a little more for Wantagh. It meant stability.
“It’s really difficult to think when you’re on the [draw] that if they win this draw and score and tie the game, it could be my fault,” Cerasi said. “So once we got it, I just had a big sigh of relief. I knew it was important.”
Cerasi did just that, single-handedly winning the draw control herself as Wantagh retained possession for the final 66 seconds en route to a 10-9 victory over Syosset in a Nassau Conference I girls lacrosse matchup on Tuesday morning.
“Right before, I took a deep breath and then when it goes up, I’m ready,” Cerasi said. “I know I have the fight. I push a little bit harder and once I get it, I just get out of there.”
Carly Greenbaum scored two free-position goals over 48 seconds to cap off Syosset scoring three goals over 5:41 to cut Wantagh’s lead to 10-9. But after Wantagh won the draw control with 1:06 left, it never lost possession.
Syosset led 5-4 at halftime before Wantagh scored all four goals in the third quarter. Sabrina Asadurian scored three of her four goals during the third quarter, including three straight goals over 2:11 to give Wantagh a 9-5 lead after the third period.
“I just had a run,” Asadurian said. … “I saw an opportunity and I took it. I just wanted my team to come ahead, so I just wanted to make it happen.”
“She’s such a great player, she’s so quick and I’m glad our feeders were finding her,” coach Lauren Ruppert said. “Sometimes it’s not always there, but they found her today and we took advantage of it. Once she started getting open and scoring, our entire team’s momentum got up.”
Jadyn Stadler had three goals and an assist and Greenbaum had three goals for Syosset (4-3). Riley Forthofer had two goals and three assists, Cerasi added two goals, an assist and seven draw controls and Sienna Diglio added a goal and five draw controls for Wantagh (5-2).
Ruppert said Wantagh graduated a lot of offensive talent last season and it took a few games for new offensive leaders to emerge. But she’s seen Wantagh’s offense evolve throughout the spring.
“They just play together and sometimes teams don’t have that,” Ruppert said. “They may have these great athletes but they’re not a team and I think we have a team.”
