Bayport-Blue Point girls lacrosse team outlasts Babylon to win Suffolk Class D title
Bayport-Blue Point celebrates after a goal against Babylon during the Suffolk Class D girls lacrosse championship at Stony Brook University on Sunday. Credit: Brittney Dietz
The Bayport-Blue Point girls lacrosse team had a two-goal lead in the first half and a three-goal advantage in the third quarter but couldn’t quite pull away from Babylon.
But with a one-goal lead and just under seven minutes remaining, junior Olivia Brady delivered.
Brady scored two of her three goals in the fourth quarter to extend the lead as top-seeded Bayport-Blue Point defeated second-seeded Babylon, 13-9, in the Suffolk Class D championship game at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium on Sunday.
Bayport-Blue Point (11-5) will face Cold Spring Harbor in the Long Island Class D championship/Southeast Regional final at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Stony Brook.
Bayport-Blue Point won the state Class C title last year. Cold Spring Harbor has won back-to-back state Class D crowns.
“There was so much adrenaline in those moments,” Brady said. “My mindset was to keep encouraging my teammates, keep the energy up and just push so Babylon couldn’t come back. Realizing we were going to win a county championship for a second year in a row was really exciting.”
Bayport-Blue Point took a 9-5 lead when Kaelyn Aiello scored her third goal with 8:30 left in the third quarter.
Babylon (11-7) then ended the Phantoms’ 4-0 run. Peyton Logue-Boyd dished out assists to Kayla Hague and RyLeigh Busch, and DeLaney Busch netted her fourth goal as Babylon moved within one with 9:33 left.
Logue-Boyd finished with a goal and four assists.
“We battled back to 9-8. These girls never give up on anything, and it speaks to their character,” Babylon coach Chris Ryan said. “Peyton, DeLaney and this senior class built this program up. They came up as eighth-graders and they’ve made Babylon proud with their careers.”
After Brady’s goal made it 10-8, Bayport-Blue Point freshman Leila Rogers won the draw control. Rogers earned another draw-control win after Brady’s following goal, helping the Phantoms secure possession with an 11-8 lead and five minutes remaining.
“I think Leila Rogers was the difference for us,” Bayport-Blue Point coach Ryan Gick said. “She changed the game in the second half. That’s not a knock on our usual player who takes the draws. Sometimes it’s just a matter of how the sticks match up.
“We had a rough start to this year. We took some losses we weren’t used to taking, but we learned a lot about ourselves. We became resilient, fought through those moments, and it paid off in games like this.”
