Anna Spehr, Ava Tighe help Cold Spring Harbor reign in LI Class D girls lacrosse final

Anna Spehr and Ava Tighe poured in the goals for the Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse team . . . and then it poured rain.

Spehr totaled five goals and an assist and Tighe scored four goals with an assist to lead Cold Spring Harbor over Center Moriches, 15-4, in the Long Island Class D championship at Bethpage High School on Saturday.

The Seahawks (6-9) led 10-1 at halftime, sparked by Tighe’s four goals. Then the skies opened up. The turf field developed puddles while players, fans and coaches were drenched.

"We have been through so much this year, so it did not bother us," Spehr said. "It was an amazing feeling to be up by that much at the half, we knew we couldn’t let up and then the rain came and we just embraced it."

Julia Sobel tallied three goals and two assists and Franny Donohue scored twice. Megan Magill scored two goals for Center Moriches (10-6).

"The rain was so heavy, I was like first of all ‘where is this rain coming from?’, I was not told it was supposed to rain," Tighe said. "It didn’t matter if we had a good lead, there was still a lot of time left on the clock and we knew we needed to finish the game."

The season did not get off to the best start for the Seahawks. They lost their first three games and seven of their first nine.

"Nothing was in our control this year," said head coach Danielle Castellane. "We really had to just go day by day with COVID restrictions, quarantine, scheduled changes and having three games a week, which at one point wasn’t that much fun."

Despite being a Class D school, Cold Spring Harbor competed in Nassau Conference I against some of the top teams in the county. Its opponents featured Long Island Class B champion Garden City and Nassau Class C champion Manhasset.

"Playing against schools like that were good tests for us. We played some of our best games against them, although the score might not have gone our way in the end," Spehr said. "I am so glad we can play in that league because those games prepare us for any competition."

The Seahawks won four of their last six games, including three straight postseason victories.

"We really came alive in the two weeks before our first playoff game. We took that time to learn about ourselves and actually practice," Castellane said. "Usually those two weeks are grueling, and people are waiting for that game, but I just loved watching them build chemistry and develop relationships."

Castellane added: "Having those tough games get you physically and mentally ready. Whether we took our bumps and had some losses in there, we are totally OK with it because it ended in a Long Island championship, so we are smiling at the end."