Shoreham-Wading River goalie Angelina Price rewriting history as first girl on boys All-County team

The goal for Shoreham-Wading River’s senior goalie wasn’t to make All-County this past season in boys lacrosse. The goal was much bigger for the confident girl who stood on guard in front of the Wildcats’ cage.

“I admittedly set out to be All-American,” Angelina Price said. “I was nominated for All-American. But only have one year of starting. I think it hurt me there.”

Price had to settle for likely making history instead.

She’s believed to be the first girl ever to earn an All-County award in Suffolk boys lacrosse.

Dez Megna, the Floyd coach and president of the Suffolk County Boys Lacrosse Coaches Association, looked into it and was “99.99%” sure that it hadn’t happened before. And he believed that went for Nassau, too.

“I’ve been involved in Long Island lacrosse long enough now that somewhere I would’ve at least heard a story, ‘Remember that girl …’ ” Megna said. “I would’ve heard a story like the stories they’re probably going to tell about this kid in 10 years, like, ‘Hey, remember that girl that started for Shoreham-Wading River?’

“Listen, to make All-County is not easy if you’re a dude. And to make it as a goalie is so hard.”

This goalie did it, though.

“I think it’s so many years of hard work kind of coming together in the end,” said Price, among those honored Monday night at the county’s boys lacrosse awards dinner at Villa Lombardi’s in Holbrook. “It feels great to really prove people wrong.”

Asked who she proved wrong as a girl playing among the boys, Price said there were coaches who had been doubters.

But she waited her turn and certainly erased any doubts as the starter in SWR’s 8-8 run, the conclusion to a varsity run that dated to her freshman year.

“Look at our long history of lacrosse, there’s been thousands of All-County kids,” said Wildcats coach Mike Taylor, the person who decided on SWR’s All-County players. “We’re obviously considered one of the hot spots for lacrosse. And here’s someone of the opposite sex not only able to play it, but to be successful at it.”

Price reached double-digit saves in 11 of the 16 games and finished with 153.

She yielded five goals or less seven times and posted a 60% or higher save rate seven times. She had a save percentage above 70 four times — topped by 92.3 vs. Hauppauge, a game in which she made 12 stops and allowed just one goal — and finished at 54.3 overall.

“I couldn’t have asked her to do any more,” Taylor said. “She was clutch in so many games, especially against some higher teams.”

Taylor has known her since fifth grade and has also coached her in boys travel lacrosse. He praised her “compete level” and also cited two other factors for her success.

“I think the two things are she’s fearless — she’s obviously not afraid of the ball — and also her hands,” Taylor said. “She has just great hand-eye coordination.”

Price moved to Wading River from Bayport right before high school. Her roots of playing the position stem back to kindergarten. Her desire to play on boys teams was kindled a few years later.

“In second grade, I saw how competitive the guys were and that it was, in fact, a different game, and I wanted to be a part of that,” Price said. “I do love playing both (boys and girls lacrosse).”

Indeed, her next team will be the women’s team at Navy. She committed to a D-I future after her sophomore year.

“I think I’ll be very successful,” Price said. “I’m going to continue working hard and giving everything I’ve got to the game.”

Her time in Annapolis, Maryland, started Tuesday. It was Induction Day.

Next up — essentially a six-week boot camp.

“They call it ‘Plebe Summer,’ ” Price said. “So in that time period, the thought is you’re turned from being a civilian into a midshipman. It’s intense. We get yelled at a lot — all for the better.”

So why Navy?

“My dad (Ean Price) was a Marine, so (there’s) definitely a lot of patriotism in my family,” Price said. “I have a lot of family members who were Marines on my dad’s side. So I bleed the red, white and blue, definitely.

“Also, it’s just because I want to be part of something bigger than myself. At the Naval Academy, being a midshipman and then possibly going into the Navy or the Marines, I can have that in a sense.”

The 18-year-old is known as “Cheeto,” the nickname she gained after getting the remnants from a bag of Cheetos all over her face when she was in second grade.

“I’m trying to get ‘Cheeto’ in my bio,” Price said, “but I don’t know if the Naval Academy will allow that because it’s a nickname.”

Whether it’s playing as the last line of defense in lacrosse or playing defense for the nation, Price is the right fit.

“She’s perfect for the Naval Academy because she has that type of drive,” Taylor said. “If I wanted to picture someone to defend the country, I’d feel very comfortable that it’s her.”