Northport and Ward Melville field hockey fight to a scoreless draw atop Suffolk I
Northport goalkeeper Mariselle Camillone makes a kick save during a Suffolk Division I field hockey game on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Northport and Ward Melville field hockey teams showed why they sit towards the top of their division by keeping each other off the scoreboard Tuesday afternoon.
The two teams renewed their rivalry and fought to a 0-0 draw at Northport, with the game ending with 5:37 left on the clock due to darkness.
Both teams are now 12-1-1 in Suffolk I.
The Patriots had three consecutive corner opportunities in the last five minutes of the first half that were well-defended by Northport. The lone shot that found the back of the net came off the stick of Ward Melville’s Jadyn Stoecker, from Ava Simonton, but was called off due to
a high stick.
Following the third insert from Simonton seconds later, Hadley Torre nearly put Ward Melville on the board on the third corner, but her shot up the middle was kicked away by Tigers keeper Mariselle Camillone, who made four saves.
“I was just playing my hardest for my team, focusing on the ball in front of me and knowing I needed to make every single save,” Camillone said.
Northport earned its own three corners in the first five minutes of the second half, but Lily Beamer’s cross on the second corner was kicked away by Patriots keeper Olivia Zummo, who stopped nine shots.
The Tigers defeated Ward Melville in the county title game last season, 2-1, after the teams tied in regulation and forced a penalty shootout.
“I’m in it to win it. I just want to win it for my team. In past years we’ve lost to them, so we wanted this really bad,” Zummo said. “In the cage, if I see it coming, my mind goes clear, and I’m just focused on swiping it right out so they can carry it down the field and put it in.”
Added Torre: “Being so close to scoring every time . . . it made us want it even more. Our corners looked so great, and we knew we could do it. We got so close last year that I think that was a motivator for us this whole season to keep pushing to get back, to finish where we left off.”
Northport coach Gina Walling will look to lead the Tigers to their third state title in four seasons in her 19th and final year. The Tigers fell, 5-1, to Orchard Park in the state Class A semifinals last year.
“I live to coach games like this,” Walling said. “Today proved exactly what it needed to prove — that we’re a top team in Suffolk and we can hold another top team. It was the best game we’ve had all season.”
