Congratulations to Hicksville's first ever third and fourth grade girls lacrosse team which just finished its inaugural season. Twenty-two girls who never played lacrosse before started over three months ago with little skill or knowledge of the game. But, their dedication and hard work resulted in a very successful season. The progress they made individually and as a team was tremendous. Beginning with an exhibition game against Wantagh at Hofstra Stadium, it was clear that the girls were catching lacrosse fever.

The highlights of the season were wins over Rockville Centre (5-4) and Northport (13-9), and narrow losses to East Meadow (4-5) and a strong Lynbrook team (4-8). In the last game of the year against the first-place Lynbrook team, the Hicksville girls completed more passes and had more shots than Lynbrook, but a few crease violations and the clock wiped out some goals and prevented a winning outcome. After Lynbrook scored four goals in the first five minutes of the game, the Hicksville girls stormed back and controlled much of the game until time ran out. In other games against well-established programs in Massapequa, Farmingdale and Wantagh, the girls fought hard and were competitive for most of each game. The game experience of these teams usually enabled them to score a few goals and pull away in the last minutes of each game.

During the season, every girl played all of the field positions in order to develop their skills and an awareness of both offense and defense. For the season overall, of the 22 girls on the team, 14 scored or assisted on goals. The leading scorers were Lauren Fox (eight goals, two assists), Amy Lupardo (nine goals), Katlyn Picardi (seven goals, two assists), Kacey Abbriano (four goals, three assists) and Alyssa Mascaretti (two goals, two assists). These girls were the backbone of the offense and exhibited teamwork and an aggressive style of play. However, almost every girl on the team was able to take at least one shot on goal at some point during the season.

Julia Finlay, Carly Cohen, Christine Smith, Melissa Chiusano, Emma Hupfer, Jillian Ithier and Rachel Vaccaro helped balance the offense, each contributing to the scoring and vital ball control. It was clear that the girls not only concentrated on their stick skills, but fought hard all over the field for the ever-important ground balls.

Again, although every girl rotated between offense and defense, the rocks on defense who protected the goalie included Morgan Kelly, Caitlin Lucey, Lisa Lapolla, Dinamarie Tsoukalas and Christa Levko. They learned good position and showed a lot of determination in thwarting the other team's offense.

Jessie Ithier did a tremendous job playing goalie a majority of the time. She made 32 saves, most of them at point blank range while achieving a save percentage of just under 50 percent. The rest of the goaltending work was shared by the fearless trio of Stephanie Schara, Jenna Loicono and Jessica Cline, all of whom helped to keep the team in every game.

Every girl on the team contributed to the success of this first season. I am very proud of what they accomplished. The fun and excitement that was generated was obvious at every game. This team is just the first step in building a strong tradition in Hicksville girls lacrosse. It will be very rewarding to watch these girls play lacrosse for years to come. If you would like your daughter to begin playing next spring, we encourage you to watch for registration dates or contact Hicksville PAL.

Finally, a special thanks goes to Anne Finlay. This team would not have been created without her energy and persistence. John Agello also deserves thanks for his ongoing encouragement and support. Beginning a team from scratch involved many details and John was there to help deal with all of them. Of course, heartfelt thanks go to assistant coaches Al Abbriano and Joe Mascaretti, and student coaches Kristin Lupardo, Tanya Katawicz, Scott Fox and Tim Fox for their dedication and enthusiasm. This was a special group of people who made the experience fun for everyone.

See you next spring!

Larry Fox, coach