4-peat! Northport adds another Long Island title to trophy case
Kenzie Bliven of Northport gets congratulated by teammates after scoring her second goal of the afternoon to extend the Tigers' lead over Massapequa to 3-0 in the Long Island Class A field hockey championship at Northport on Sunday. Credit: James Escher
Playing for a Long Island title on its home field, Northport wanted to start fast.
Did it ever.
In the first 20 seconds, Caeley Monez dribbled down the right side of the field and passed into the circle, where Kenzie Bliven laid out and jabbed her stick at the ball, punching in a goal as the Tigers crowd let out a deafening roar.
“Whenever I dribble it down the field, Kenzie is always down in the circle for me,” Monez said. “When my teammates say to pass it [to Bliven], I trust that she’s going to shoot it in.”
Bliven scored two goals and Monez had a goal and an assist in Northport’s 5-0 win over Massapequa on Sunday afternoon for its fourth straight Long Island Class A field hockey title.
“It’s one of the best feelings,” said Bliven, a senior. “We haven’t played here for a championship, so to win this at home is very exciting.”
Winners of the last two state titles, the Tigers will face Orchard Park (Section VI) in the state semifinals at noon Saturday at Centereach High School.
In the second quarter, Monez took a pass from Caitlin O’Malley at the 15-yard line and unleashed a rocket that deflected off Massapequa goalie Colleen Emanuele and into the net. Bliven scored her second goal off an assist from Lily Beamer later in the quarter to give the Tigers a 3-0 halftime lead.
Mary Breckling and Julianna Tietjen each added a goal in the fourth quarter.
“Every season, we’ve had multiple superstars,” coach Gina Walling said. “But this team has a solid player in every spot. We don’t necessarily have one person that scores all the goals or one defender that shuts everyone down. Some teams rely heavily on those superstars, but these kids just rely on each other.”
Said O’Malley, “We got a lot of backlash after last year and people thinking we wouldn’t even make the playoffs, so it’s great to prove them wrong.”
Emanuele made 19 saves for Massapequa, which finished 7-10. Mariselle Camillone made two saves for Northport, which outshot Massapequa 25-2.
Northport (17-1) has been nearly unbeatable in this stretch of LI titles, sporting a 77-2 record in the last four years. But the Tigers’ winning appetite hasn’t diminished as they eye a third straight state crown.
“We want it bad,” Monez said. “No matter what, we’re going to keep working towards it and we’re going to stay composed and not let anything get to us.”
