It's All About The Little Victories For The Hampton Bays Girls Lacrosse Team

The Hampton Bays girls lacrosse team faces challenges with depth and experience each season. This time is especially challenging for the squad of 18, with no middle school or junior varsity teams. But what the Baymen look to, even if walking away from a matchup with a loss, is achieving any victory, no matter how small.

“You can go into games against other teams and categorize yourself as a winning team if you beat teams and the scoreboard reflects that, or you can categorize yourself as a winning team if each of you are individually achieving your goals,” head coach Kristin Webber said. “It’s always a challenge facing other schools that are coming in with a lot of different skill sets and a lot of time practicing on the field or have a lot of Division I commits — that’s definitely been a struggle — but we don’t play that comparison game, and we avoid the word weakness. We focus on our strengths and on our growing points.”

Part of the way to get to those goals is looking to adjustments that can be made as a team. Webber, a former Eastport-South Manor and Westhampton Beach lacrosse player, said her senior co-captain Cassidy Moore does a good job of that.

“When our team is facing a challenge, in a huddle during a timeout or at halftime, she always says ‘us as a team,’ she always uses that phrase to bring it back that all of us need to work on this,” said the first-year head coach, who previously led the middle school team, while also coaching the basketball and tennis teams. “I think it helps if we build each other up. I like to maintain a team that is competitive, but also a team that is respectful of each other. Cassidy is a tremendous leader and I absolutely rely on her skill set and her experience within the game — to be able to bring that and share that and mentor younger girls on the team.”

Moore has not only been a vocal leader, but leads by example. The midfielder, who plays with the Brookhaven Bandits travel lacrosse team, has amassed nearly 150 goals, competing for the varsity team since she was in eighth grade. She hit 100 goals her sophomore season, scoring 63 goals and adding 12 assists in 2019. So far this year, she’s racked up 30 points on 22 goals and eight assists.

“I either try to score on a fast break running down the field or crease roll,” Moore said. “I’m very proud of myself for my accomplishments, but the practice of being on a varsity team since eighth grade has helped me know more about the game and how to handle the ball better.”

“This year, with the short season, has been very challenging physically for our team, especially with last year off, but we have all made the most of it and worked very hard to improve,” Moore continued. “Saorla [Scully] and I, as captains, try to encourage our team and push them to their best potential every day and expect a lot from them. This season has been the best dynamic the team has had and everyone has a lot of love for each other.”

Athletic Director Drew Walker said Moore is up there with some of the top players to come out of the district’s young program, including Alex Maitland-Ward, who played for PACE University, Nikki Nolan (SUNY Brockport) and former goalkeeper Colette Levine.

“Cassidy Moore is a very good player for Hampton Bays, and I think she is one of four girls that have been strong players since we started the program,” he said. “She has played a lot of lacrosse outside the high school season.”

Moore is also playing her senior season with younger sister Jamie, who also plays club lacrosse and often looks for her sister on the field. While the two haven’t been on a team together before, their father has been coaching the two of them since they were in kindergarten.

“We have the advantage of being on the same page, and we can really help each other out and be that person that understands our ideas,” said the sophomore midfielder, who added she’s learned from her older sister how to clean up her game, working on stick skills, taking smarter shots on goal and handling the ball better. “I love to watch her play — she is a big help to the team, and now I get to help her out, which is super exciting.”

Webber knows all about their bond, as the former lacrosse player competed with her older sister Caitlynn, the current assistant coach for Westhampton Beach’s girls varsity lacrosse team. In fact, the energy two sister pairings bring to the team has elevated Hampton Bays in key situations this year. Junior Jordyn Meyers is also playing with her younger sister Taylor, a seventh grader. The coach said that dynamic, especially between the Moore sisters, is key for the Baymen.

“Their trust in each other shows in the way our offense moves. They’re supportive of each other, and that reliance on each other is something I love see play out on the field,” Webber said. “They’re able to make key plays and have faith when they’re going for risky or trick plays they put together during practice … they’re able to express their love and appreciation and respect for each other out on the field.”

While Cassidy Moore works with the offensive team to achieve goals related to things like off-ball movement, cutting to the ball at the right times and riding in defense to attempt to get the ball back, senior co-captain Saorla Scully, a defender, works with the back end of the field on things like turnovers, recovering ground balls and interceptions. Junior goalkeeper Abigail Hoffmann has her sights set on making 100 saves this year. She recorded over 50 stops in the first half of the season, and 43 to-date in the second, with three games left to play.

“We average two-to-three games a week, which is physically straining on our kids, but they rise to the challenge every day — they show up to practice, their improvements and growth is exceptional and their overall attitude is positive. It’s a wonderful team that we have this year,” Webber said. “These kids have to work to achieve their own goals and work to face the challenges of every game, and even if we come out of a game with a loss, we still have victories, and we’re able to feel good about ourselves.”