Sports
2011 Spring Preview: West Islip Girls Lacrosse
Lions looking to build on 2010 campaign, win county title
The West Islip girls lacrosse team will enter 2011 hungry for a chance to avenge a one-goal loss in the county semifinals last year at the hands of Bay Shore, 10-9.
Though carrying a number of underclassmen on his roster, head coach Joe Nicolosi is extremely confident in his team's outlook for the upcoming season.
"We’re going to compete," he said. "There’s no doubt about it. We have a solid group of kids. We have a lot of young girls that are stepping up and getting some playing time."
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The loss of All-American goaltender Alyssa Costantino, now playing at Syracuse University, from last year's team leaves a void between the pipes for the Lions. But Nicolosi is happy with the way his pair of goaltenders have adjusted to competing for the starting job.
Junior Krista Spagnoletta and freshman Shannon McFadden are the team's two netminders, though neither has taken the reigns of the starting job yet.
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"Both of them are competing for the spot," said Nicolosi. "Obviously it’s very hard to replace an All-American goalie. She was on my team for three years. Right now, that’s one of our tough spots, but both girls are working hard and doing a great job."
The Lions return an otherwise balanced roster in 2011, and will are a threat to go well beyond the county semifinals.
Record last year: 14-4
Head coach: Joe Nicolosi, in his sixth year as head coach.
Top players:
- Casey McGowan, defense
- Loren Ziegler, attack
- Rainey Hodgson, attack
- Erin Collins, midfield
- Kelsey Allen, midfield
Key losses: Costantino wasn't the only big name to graduate in 2010. They also graduated a pair of defenders, Casey Sarle and Ashley Howard. Up front, they lost Devin Cremi as well. Though each player was an important member of last year's team, Nicolosi is confident he's found players than can fill their voids.
Expectations: Nicolosi fully expects to duplicate the success they enjoyed last season, and even expand on it.
"We have some good firepower offensively," said Nicolosi. "In the midfield, we’ve got a very strong group and our defense is all seniors. I really want to pick up where we left off last year and continue on and get into that county championship game."
Big games:
April 7 - home against Bay Shore
April 14 - at Middle Country
April 18 - at Ward Melville
May 3 - at Northport
