Westhampton's Helpers Lead to King's Seven Goals, Derby's Five in National-Ranked Girls Lacrosse Team's Win

Reese King’s seven goals stood out in the Westhampton Beach girls lacrosse team’s 16-9 win over Comsewogue Monday, but what’s even more significant to the senior, and the crux of what makes this now nationally ranked undefeated girls lacrosse team so dominant, is each Hurricanes’ ability to move the ball effectively to create scoring opportunities for one another.

In fact, half of No. 7 Westhampton Beach’s goals, including all seven of King’s scores, were assisted. It’s a microcosm of what the 7-0 Hurricanes have been able to do all season long, with 42 of 91 goals scored being set up by a smart, pass-oriented offense.

“It’s nice to have these players surrounding me. Every girl brings something to this team, and no one is selfish,” the senior midfielder said. “We’ve been working really hard and really well together to get to this level — there were beautiful cuts and feeds. It’s great to have this win to kick off a big week ahead.”

Westhampton Beach’s understanding of offensive flow and willingness to share the ball was something the Hurricanes wanted to hone in on with upcoming matchups against nationally ranked Bayport-Blue Point and Sayville. Head coach Mary Bergmann said she knew it would be important because driving to the cage is difficult against the opposition’s stout zone defenses.

“I liked the vision we showed today,” the coach said. “Heading into Bayport, we know we have players who can drive, but driving is definitely not one of our strong suits, so we wanted to get back to assisting more goals. We just need to keep building our confidence.”

That was something that slipped for the Hurricanes as the Warriors (2-3) went up, 4-2, following back-to-back goals by Jayla Callender inside the final minute of the first quarter.

“I think in the back of their minds they panic about losing. They’re used to losing every couple of games,” Bergmann said. “So I think they’re nervous about that, but once they settle in and relax and realize they’re okay, they tend to play a little bit better. They need to feel out the other team and feel confident they can get it done.”

Junior attack Ava Derby buried the ball into the upper right corner after recovering possession off a missed Westhampton Beach pass, and King scored her third goal of the second quarter off a feed from freshman attack Mia Mastropierro, to give the Hurricanes a lead they wouldn’t let go of.

“I think we were a little freaked out to start — we were a little all over the place because we weren’t really getting our way,” King said. “But once we slowed things down and started sharing the ball more, we saw a totally different outcome, and it was in our favor.”

Westhampton Beach also started winning more battles in the draw circle, and crashing for turnovers on defense, leading to even more opportunities on offense.

A bounce-in attempt saved by senior goalkeeper Maya Farnan led to Provenzano’s second goal of the game after she drew a shooting space call on the other end, and Derby, who recorded five goals and one assist, followed it up with a free position shot of her own, sending a bullet into the left side as she crossed in front of the goal with 4:38 left in the third. King scored off a pick-and-roll Provenzano dish from the wing a minute later, and cut to the cage on a give-and-go before receiving another pass from Mastropierro with 2:13 to go for a goal that gave the Hurricanes a commanding 11-6 lead.

“My teammates are always setting me up to be in that position. It’s them,” Derby said. “What’s really special about this team is that not one person does everything, and I think that’s why we’ve been so successful this season. We do best when we look to pass to each other. Everyone does their job and we dominate. We’re on a good path if we keep doing that.”

Provenzano finished with two goals and two assists, Mastropierro tallied three helpers, Maiya Boughal tacked on two goals and Sophia Amodemo and Meaghan Tufano each came in off the bench to record assists. Boughal also played a crucial role in winning the battle at midfield, trading places with King for several draw wins and scooping up critical ground balls on others.

“Comsewogue was really aggressive from the start, so we learned we need to match that and push, push, push. Working off each other is going to be really important,” the junior said. “We have a really big week ahead of us, so building this type of camaraderie is really important, and I think building upon this game is going to be helpful for us. What we have here is super, super special — we’re such a close team, we all trust each other and everyone on the field is a threat — and we need to focus on these next few games, because they are going to be key.”

The catapult into the Top 10 in the national rankings, and ascent the Hurricanes have made since, gives some of the girls extra motivation moving into the road game at No. 6 Bayport-Blue Point (7-0) on Wednesday. The battle against the Phantoms, the only other undefeated team in Suffolk County’s Division II, begins at 4:30 p.m. Westhampton Beach will host No. 25 Sayville (5-1) on Saturday, April 19, at 10 a.m.

“The ranking gives us a big boost of confidence, and it definitely puts a target on our backs, but we’re motivated to stay there,” King said. “We want to keep climbing.”