The Manhasset girls lacrosse team was doing a whole lot of chasing Wednesday night at Adelphi University, both literally and figuratively.
They were literally chasing the Class B top seeds and five-time defending champs, Garden City, around the field as the Trojans’ attack was a little faster and smoother than Set could keep up with.
And figuratively, Manhasset was chasing on the scoreboard, falling behind in the first quarter and never quite getting close enough to putting game pressure on Garden City.
All that chasing led to a result that had the top-seeded Trojans celebrating at the final horn. Garden City got four goals from Arcangela Haffner and beat Manhasset, the 2022 state champions, 13-9.
“We would get a goal, then they would immediately follow,” Manhasset junior Taylor Gordon said. “It was a big mental toll on us. We just couldn’t get a run going.”
First-year Set coach Tom Campolettano said he thought there were a few points in the game where Manhasset (14-5 record) could’ve made a push.
“They’re champions for a reason, gotta give Garden City a lot of credit,” Campolettano said. “We just never could get that one stop, or that one turnover when we really needed it. But I’m proud of our girls.”
Garden City won the regular season matchup between the two longtime rivals, 13-5, on May 3, but this game was much closer.
Part of that was because of the brilliant play of Gordon, a junior who has committed to play for national powerhouse Boston College, the runner-up in this year’s NCAA Division I championship. Gordon scored four goals Wednesday to give her 19 for the season.
“There’s a reason she’s going to BC, she’s a tremendous player,” Campolettano said. “She had a great game for us.”
Gordon, who, along with fellow junior Grayson Denihan, has committed to play for Boston College, scored on a breakaway to tie the game at 1 with 4:57 left, but the Trojans answered back with goals from Arcangela Haffner and Deanna Prisco to go up 3-1 after one.
Garden City stretched its lead to 8-3 by the end of the second quarter, as the Trojans (17-2) repeatedly won the draws after goals scored to keep the ball away from Manhasset.
“We were having difficulty, difficulty scooping, difficulty converting, and we were rushing some stuff,” Campolettano said. “Once we started getting a little more patient, it was better.”
Set started the second half threatening to make the game more competitive, as tallies from Harper Lambert and Gordon in the first five minutes of the third quarter cut the deficit to 9-5.
But Manhasset wasn’t able to get any closer than the four-goal deficit, as Garden City goalie Kate Connolly made six saves to keep her team well in front.
“They move the ball very well, and they trust each other; there’s always open looks for them,” Gordon added. “They move the ball very fast, and it was hard for our slides to get there fast enough.”
While Manhasset does lose some top talent in the graduating senior class, including top scorer Elim Yang (who had 39 goals this season), there’s a host of sophomores and juniors who gained valuable experience from a playoff run that saw Manhasset outscore its first two playoff opponents 29-12.
“This can only help us next year,” Campolettano said. “But we’ll worry about next year, next year. This one is going to sting for a little while.”
