Lady Eagles Lax Falls to Garden City in LI Championships

The Lady Eagles winning streak came to an end on Saturday, as Hauppauge lost 13-7 to Garden City for the Long Island championship at Hosfstra. The loss puts an end to Hauppauge's season, in which they had an undefeated 14-0 league record and their first Suffolk County championship title. 

Having just defeated Manhasset at Hofstra on Wednesday, the Lady Trojans returned to the field with confidence. They started the game slower than usual, not taking over the game as quickly as they have in the past. Ten minutes into the first half, Hauppauge was leading Garden City 2-0. Nearing the 13-minute mark, they had about enough of being behind, and Alexandra Bruno scored the first goal for the team. Caroline Tarzian than scored a minute later, tying the game and beginning their take over.

Garden City's immense defense held Hauppauge from scoring anymore in the first half, and they stacked up four more goals before going into halftime. Now leading Hauppauge 6-2, it appeared the Lady Trojans weren't going to let this one slip away.

Caroline Tarzian scored less than four minutes into the second half, leading Hauppauge 7-2. Hauppauge ended their dry spell at the 14:28 mark, making the score 7-3, and drawing the line at seven unanswered goals for the Lady Trojans. If they were going to make a comeback, it had to come now. Nearing the five minute mark, Garden City was now leading 9-4. At the 2-minute mark, they were leading 11-4. At the 1:29 mark, a fowl was called against Hauppauge's goalie, Kasey Kephart, and Tarzian was allowed a free shot. By this point, it appeared that Hauppauge wasn't going to pull this one off.

Jenna Fuchs scored the last goal for Garden City with 1:12 left to go. Hauppauge scored three more goals in the final two minutes, two of which were by Taylor Ranftle, but it was too little too late. Ending at 13-7, the team ran onto the field and jumped up and down with excitement.

Following the game, the Lady Trojans were presented with a plaque, crowning them as the girls' lacrosse Class B champions of 2011.

"Hauppauge really gave us a run for our money today," said Garden City goalie Kelly Weis. "They are such a tough team, but we love games like this. We needed to step it up from a slow start, but thankfully we did." Weis had six saves for the game.

"We had to play very aggressively today," said Tarzian. "When you're playing a team like Hauppauge, you need to play your best. Our team morale was high and we came together after a slow start." Tarzian scored a team high four goals and four assists, followed by Alexandra Bruno, who scored three goals and had two assists.

Hauppauge's goalie, Kasey Kephart, had an impressive 10 saves for the game. Ranftle, Lauren Descalzo and Jennifer Porreto all scored two goals each, and Jenna Vinci scored one goal.

"I'm very proud of all of you," said Hauppauge head coach Abigail Zeltmann to her team.  "We had a terrific season this year."  They held onto an undefeated 16-0 winning streak, and won their first Suffolk County title in their 10-year history by defeating Shoreham-Wading at Dowling College.