Garden City Girls Lacrosse kicks off season

After working endless hours during the off-season, Garden City Girls Lacrosse kicked off its season on March 27th against Ward Melville. Head coach Dave Ettinger looks to lead this year’s team of 29 girls for a third year along with assistant coaches Janet Rogler and Gina Leake. Team captains are: Ariana Bransfield, Marie Cacciabaudo, Katie Gaven and Grace Hopkins and seniors Isabel O’Connor and Cece VanBlenis. Juniors are Maureen Arendt, Lizzie Curth, Tara Hollis, Kendal Morris, Molly Nicholas, Mabel Overbeck, Niamh Pfaff, Emily Romeo and Alex Walsh. The sophomores are Ellie Anderson, Katherine Clavin, Kyle Finnell, Arcangela Haffner, Brooke Hopkins, Meghan Lynch, Kathryn Monaco, Tori Ottomanelli, Brynn Reilly, and freshmen, Regan Backer, Ashley Clark, Elizabeth Gaffney, Deanna Prisco and Averie Smith.

The coaching staff and players all have the same goal this season, play together with heart and hustle, make it thru the playoffs and improve from the 2022 season.

Monday’s game against Ward Melville started slow for Garden City. At halftime, Ward Melville was up 6-2. The Trojans dominated the second half, giving up only two more goals thanks to our strong defense and goalkeeper, Niamh Pfaff, who had a total of four saves for the game. GC was able to generate five goals for the second half, while Ward Melville was only able to score two during the half. GC Goals were scored by: Arendt (3) Backer, Cacciabuado, Finnell, and Ottomanelli. Despite the team losing their first game of the season 7-8, this game demonstrated the girls’ determination to never give up in any game situation.

On Thursday March 30, the Garden City Girls Varsity Lacrosse team visited Farmingdale for their first league game of the season. Garden City’s offense was able to generate a total of fourteen goals in a true team effort with goals scored by Arendt (3), Backer, Cacciabuado, Clark, Gaven, Haffner (2), Lynch, Morris (2), Ottomanelli and Overbeck. The defense held Farmingdale to only six goals and Garden City goalies Niamh Pfaff and CeceVan Blenis each had three saves. The Trojans were able to bounce back from their previous loss and won against Farmingdale with a final score of 14-6.

On Saturday April 1, Garden City hosted the Radnor lacrosse team from Pennsylvania. The Trojans approached their third game in hopes to prove to an out-of-state team how Garden City truly is a powerhouse for lacrosse. Garden City was leading the whole game against Radnor with a strong offensive effort by Katie Gaven and Kyle Finnell with 5 points a piece. The starting midfielders, Marie Cacciabuado, Kendall Morris, Tori Ottomanelli and Regan Backer did an outstanding job with strong play between the 30s. Ariana Bransfield, Mabel Overbeck, Emily Romeo, and Kathryn Monaco all did an impeccable job on defense along with Niamh Pfaff who had a total of seven saves. The Trojans gained another win for their record with an 11-6 victory!

The Trojans had just one practice after the Radnor game to prepare for their game against Long Beach. On Monday, April 3, Garden City traveled to Long Beach High School to play against the team they had last seen during the Nassau County Final. This was a highly anticipated game as both teams had something they wanted to prove to one another. Garden City started with an early lead thanks to a solid effort on the draw circle with the play of Kendal Morris, Marie Cacciaubaudo and Tori Ottomanelli, who dominated on the circle. Mabel Overbeck did a terrific job of clearing the ball from the defensive end with her impressive speed. Sophomore attacker Kyle Finnel, was an offensive force. She had a total of six goals for the Trojans while Tori Ottomanelli had three goals and two assists. Grace Hopkins and Maureen Arendt each added 2 points as well. The unselfish play led to a 13-7 victory over Long Beach.

The Garden City Girls Varsity Lacrosse team’s season is just getting underway and there is so much potential for this team to do great things! During the April break, the Troajns will visit the number one team in the nation, the Darien Blue Wave and then come home to take on North Shore with the final game of the week in Maryland against prep powerhouse, Garrison Forest. Come on down to the next home game April 12, at 11 a.m. against North Shore.