Newsday Athlete of the Week is Delaney Radin of Long Beach girls lacrosse
Long Beach girls lacrosse player Delaney Radin at Long Beach High School on Thursday, May 12, 2022 in Long Beach. Credit: Howard Schnapp
Delaney Radin from Long Beach girl’s lacrosse has always possessed great leadership skills and intangibles.
“She’s the quarterback of our offense,” coach Rachel Ray said. “She’s a triple threat on the field. She’s shifty, dynamic, [and a] attacker. She’s the best leader I’ve seen and coached at the high school level, by far.”
Those attributes were put on full display Tuesday when Radin led her team to a 16-5 victory over Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK. In the performance, the junior captain scored three goals and dished out a season-high seven assists.
“I like to share the ball once I get it, so I was looking for my teammates because they made really good cuts and… it was just a good day to get a lot of assists,” Radin said.
Radin has always exemplified this trait of looking out for others. In her first year as a captain she feels it is her job to make sure everyone is comfortable and on the same page, on and off the field.
“As a captain I like to make sure everyone on the team is comfortable,” Radin said. “We are all really close and I don’t think anyone feels left out at anytime and that’s always my main purpose of being a captain.”
Having won a nail-biter the day before, 8-7, against Rocky Point, Radin (who scored three goals) knew the last game of the regular season was important to set the tone for Long Beach heading into the playoffs next week.
“It gave us a lot of confidence going into playoff season, we were able to roll the bench,” Radin said. “Everyone played really well individually, so it gave everyone a really good confidence boost.”
With the victory Long Beach (7-8) was able to secure the No. 2 heading into the playoffs where they await the winner of Herricks vs. New Hyde Park next Wednesday at home. Garden City (10-3) currently holds the top spot and Long Beach’s attention.
When asked about her main goal and what she hopes to carry into the playoffs, Radin said “Everyone just wants to beat Garden City, that’s the ultimate goal. We have never beaten them before or won the county championship before… so I think our main goal just comes down to Garden City.”
