Mimi Berkowitz, Sara Curley spark Lynbrook girls lacrosse

When facing Mimi Berkowitz and Sara Curley charging down on the attack together, the defense has usually already lost. The Lynbrook juniors have the chemistry and experience where if you focus the attention on one, the other is there to finish a goal.

Curley had four goals and two assists and Berkowitz had five goals to lead Lynbrook to a 19-10 victory over Floral Park at Marion Street Elementary in Lynbrook in non-league girls lacrosse Thursday.

“We have a lot of trust in each other,” Curley said about Berkowitz and her teammates. “If one wants to take a 1-on-1, we’ll give them space and we’re not selfish. Just having that trust in one another allows us to push the offense to score.”

“Their chemistry is off the charts,” coach Vincent Tetro said. “It’s a nice luxury to have.”

Berkowitz scored three of the team’s opening six goals and Lynbrook opened a 7-0 lead with 13:36 left in the first half, with many of those goals coming in transition and runs to the net.

“There’s always that little pressure in the back of your head,” Berkowitz said. “But overall you just want to get to the net and finish it.”

Lynbrook (5-2) opened an 11-5 halftime lead en route to its fifth straight victory. The Owls have many new faces this season with nine first-year starters after reaching the Nassau Class C semifinals last year.

Kaelynn O’Brien, Jesse Bodian and Ava Padilla each added two goals. Caityblu Cavassa had two assists and nine draw controls and Samantha DeLucca had a goal and an assist.

“We’ve been building upon everything we’ve been learning from the first game up until now,” Tetro said. “We have scorers at multiple positions. We don’t have to rely on just one player. We have seven girls on the offense that can put the ball in the back of the net.”

Avery Meighan had four goals and Christina DiGuglielmo had three goals for Floral Park (5-2).

Lynbrook scored the first four goals of the second half, taking a 15-5 lead five minutes into the period.

“We just have fun out there,” Curley said. “Once we have a lead we can relax and play the way we want to play.”

And Curley, who Tetro called the “catalyst” of the offense, was at the center of the scoring.

“My teammates gave me the room to dodge and they trust me, so I didn’t want to let them down,” Curley said. “I want to have a team mentality because I think it allows me to push myself as a player and allow me to be dynamic and lean on my team or take it myself.”