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Baymen senior captains, from left, Mia Camey, Sophia Corredor and Jamie Moore. DREW BUDD
After losing seven players — nearly half the team — to graduation after last season, the Hampton Bays girls lacrosse team is hoping that what it lacks in numbers it can make up for with young, raw skill.
Jules Radin, entering his second season as the varsity head coach, said that his 15-player roster includes a strong senior group along with some up-and-coming underclassmen. That senior leadership lies in tri-captains Mia Camey, Sophia Corredor and Jamie Moore. All three bring a wealth of varsity experience at different parts of the field, particularly Moore, who has been on the team for over four years.
Taylor Meyers and Eden Brown, both freshmen who played last season as eighth-graders, head up the underclassmen, which now also includes eighth-graders Emma Schultheis, Kirra Schoerlin and Nikole Vazquez. Freshman Lauren Capone is also new to the team and has a line on the starting goalie position.
Junior Allison Sequeria, who Radin said played some years ago, has come back to the sport, and junior Allison Booth is also returning to the team. Jules Palmieri, whom Radin called a “big time” field hockey player, just recently picked up a lacrosse stick and after a few weeks he expects her to be contributing as well.
“Getting the girls to play more was my goal this past year,” Radin said. “We did a summer league, then went back into clinics in December, so the program has made the effort. We do have 19 girls on our middle school team. Numbers are still low on varsity with about 15 girls, but we’ll grow along with our younger players and try and utilize some of these great athletes that Hampton Bays has.
“They’re not so much laser-focused on this sport, but one reason why I wanted to coach this team was to give these girls an opportunity to play in college, and whether it’s playing on a Division I program — which I believe some of these girls have the ability to do so in the future — or whether it’s on a club team, you can play this sport for a long time,” he continued. “I have a really good young team right now, and considering this year to last year, I’m excited to see what we do this year.”
Hampton Bays will continue to compete in Division II as a Class C team. The “C” class this season includes some of the best the county has to offer in Bayport/Blue Point, Mount Sinai, Shoreham-Wading River and Westhampton Beach, as well as Elwood-John Glenn, Harborfields, Islip, Kings Park, Miller Place, Rocky Point and Sayville.
Hampton Bays opens the season with a nonleague game at home against Riverhead this Friday at 4 p.m. and will host Harborfields this Tuesday, March 28, at 5 p.m.
“Being that we only have about 15 girls or so, the thing that might wear us down is pace of the game, so we’ll be looking to slow the ball down and not be so overworked,” Radin explained. “I’m excited to say there is a great potential in these girls and it’s crazy to have such a positive group in terms of just attitudes. Just a great group of girls who work together, we just need to fine tune some things.
“And we’re only losing four seniors this year and probably gaining eight or nine ninth-graders for next year, so the focus right now is to get us going,” he continued. “We might actually catch a few teams by surprise. I just want these girls to play well, leave the field with their heads up at the end of the game and go play hard. It doesn’t take a lacrosse player to get a ground ball, it takes an athlete. And if we play well, I think we’ll be more competitive this year than we were last year.”
