Saturday was a truly gorgeous day. Bright blue skies, warm temperatures and blossoming flowers and trees made everyone happy to be alive and outside. All along the North Shore youth and high school lacrosse was being played as the Island's signature sport kicks into high gear. Most people were over at Manhasset High School, where a temporary stadium had been erected to host the Army v. Duke / Manhasset v. Chaminade double-header. Those games were being preceded by many youth games as high schools throughout Long Island were encouraged to support the youngsters who are just learning the game. Portledge participated in this effort by hosting two youth events. The first saw a team of 6th grade girls from the Oak Neck Lacrosse Club take on a team of 6th grade girls from the Cold Spring Harbor Youth program. Oak Neck serves the Locust Valley/Bayville area and , in fact, their team was coached by Portledge's own 5/6Girls coach Amy Tansill, while the Cold Spring Harbor squad was coached by Don Morrison, the father of starting Portledge attackman Tim Morrison. Down on the Varsity Boys field there was a well attended scrimmage featuring 7th and 8th grade boys from both the Oak Neck and Portledge teams. This was a fun game to watch as two groups from the same community got to mingle and get to know each other a bit. The big events of the day started around noon though, as the Portledge Varsity Girls faced off against perennial NYSAIS powerhouse Hackley, and the Varsity Boys took on a tough team from St. Francis Prep in a critical NYMLA contest.
What Happened in the Varsity Girls Game?
Early on the well coached and game savvy Hackley squad played some excellent defense to hold down the high powered Portledge attack. The black shirted girls from Tarreytown collapsed on Portledge center midfielder Addie Reilly and consistently frustrated the Portledge attack. When the halftime whistle blew Hackley was controlling the game and had a comfortable 6-3 lead. The second half was a different story though, as Siena Falino, Portledge's most experienced attacker steped up to lead the Lady Panthers to a huge victory. The Junior attacker scored 4 of her 5 total goals as Portledge erupted for 7 second half goals in all. Reilly finished with 3 of her own and Chelsea Caracciolo and Alex Siwiec each added 1. The Portledge defense was also key in that they greatly slowed down the Hackley attack and limited the 2006 NYSAIS Champions to only
3 goals in the second stanza. This is a big win for the Portledge Girls and should go a long way in securing them at least one home game in the NYSAISAA Championship Tournament in May. The girls will play a reserve game v. Green Vale this week as they prepare to take on St Dom's, Long Island Lutheran and Kellenberg in the Portledge Girls Lacrosse Tournament next weekend.
How Did the Varsity Boys Lacrosse Team Do Against St. Francis Prep?
St. Francis and Portledge were coming into this showdown ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively, out of about thirty schools in the Laxpower metropolitan area rankings. So everyone knew that this would be a tough and hard nosed affair. That certainly was the case at the start, as both teams traded some big body and stick checks as St. Francis forged an early 2-1 lead. The Portledge attack started to wake up though through the fine play of Junior attackman Renny Kraft. The dynamic lefty exploded for three goals to help Portledge build a 7-5 halftime lead. During a well played second half Junior attackman Tim Morrison carried the load as he continuously drove to the cage and either scored or passed to an open teammate to keep up the production of the Portledge offense. The nicest goal of the game came when Freshman middie Pat Condon finished of a beautiful transition play with a qiuck stick to the top corner of the net. The Portledge defense, manned by a group that included Seniors Alfred Vitsentzos and Cam Cromer, Juniors Anker Johansen and Trevor Wolfson and Sophmore John Hambrook, played well throughout and eventually won the battle against the patient and effective St Francis offense. The final score was 14-9 as Portledge pulled away in the closing minutes. Next up for the Panthers, who have now won six in a row, is Hackley (Away on Monday@ 4:000), then comes the Portledge Tournament next weekend.
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