Massapequa girls lacrosse tops Farmingdale to win fourth straight Nassau Class A championship

Massapequa graduated one of the most talented girls lacrosse senior classes in program history last season. That core led Massapequa to its first state championship game before suffering an overtime loss. Even with the departed talented, the returning Massapequa players felt they could continue to build on the legacy those seniors left.

“Coming in from last year, we lost [almost] our entire starting lineup, so we had to come out and prove something to everyone,” said midfielder Micaela Gillis. “I really thought we would.”

Gillis was right. Second-seeded Massapequa defeated No. 4 Farmingdale, 10-7, in the Nassau Class A final at Adelphi on Tuesday night. Massapequa has won four straight Nassau Class A championships and seven of the last eight such crowns.

“Every single day we had a goal and this was one of our goals and we’re just going to keep going,” Gillis said. “We were just digging deep. We all wanted the same thing and in the end, we got it.”

Massapequa (9-7) advances to play Ward Melville (16-3) in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional Final at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Longwood High School. Farmingdale finished at 15-4.

Massapequa and Farmingdale were tied at 2 after the first quarter and at 4 at halftime. But Massapequa outscored Farmingdale, 4-2, in the third quarter to take control of the contest.

“Our whole entire season was leading up to this point,” said attack Allison Petrullo. “And we’re just going to keep going.”

Massapequa utilized a balanced attack as Savanna Appleton had three goals, Paige Garguilo had two goals and an assist and Petrullo added two goals. The team had six different goal scorers. Ashlinn Kelly had four goals and an assist for Farmingdale.

Massapequa entered the postseason on a five-game losing streak but the team was able to brush those losses off for the most important stretch of the season.

“It definitely was hard on them, we ended up playing three of the best teams in the state right in a row but I think it made them closer as a group,” coach Brendan Gaghan said. “We had to battle through adversity and we showed we can play in tough games and we learned we can come back in games.”

Farmingdale scored twice over the final three minutes of the third quarter to cut Massapequa’s lead to 8-6. But Appleton and Garguilo scored in the first 2:30 of the fourth quarter to restore a four-goal advantage and Massapequa dominated possession in the final period. Garguilo also had six draw controls and Gillis added a goal and three draw controls.

After losing in the state final last season, Massapequa has one clear objective in mind.

“We want to go back to states, that’s our ultimate goal,” Gillis said. “And winning states is the biggest goal.”