Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse battle their way to state final
Ainsley Dircks #24 of the Cold Spring Harbor Seahawks, left, celebrates after Avery Needle #17 scored a goal during a NYSPHSAA Class D semifinal lacrosse game against the Pleasantville Panthers at SUNY Cortland on June 12, 2026. Credit: Todd F. Michalek
CORTLAND — Even as they advance to the championship game, the Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse team isn’t satisfied.
The Seahawks slipped by Section I’s Pleasantville, 16-13, in the Class D state semifinals on Friday at SUNY Cortland. Cold Spring Harbor defeated Pleasantville, 21-5, in the quarterfinals last season. This time around, coach Danielle Castellane said it just wasn’t their game.
“I definitely think we came out flat,” Castellane said. “We didn’t come up with the defensive stops that we usually come up with and we had a bit of a difficult time moving the ball on offense. [Olivia] Mulada is always there to get the job done and we’re lucky she was today.”
And Mulada certainly did. The junior scored seven goals and dished out two assists to lead the Seahawks. Cold Spring Harbor (15-5) will face Penn Yan Academy (Section V) in the championship at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
Regardless of the dissatisfaction, Mulada said her team is grateful to come out with the win. Now, they’ll use Friday’s mistakes as motivation for the championship game.
“I think lifting each other up when things don’t go our way is big for us,” Mulada said. “At halftime, we talked about playing our game and cleaning up those controllable mistakes. We’ll definitely come out stronger tomorrow.”
Pleasantville’s offense stepped up to the challenge, with three different players putting up three goals each. When Cold Spring Harbor was issued its fourth yellow card of the game — forcing the team to sit a player out for the remainder of regulation — with 6:51 left in the fourth quarter, Pleasantville (17-5) capitalized. The Panthers outscored Cold Spring Harbor 5-3 in the frame.
Seahawks defender Kiersten Cody said in those player-down situations, especially for such a long duration, teamwork and communication become even more important.
“We have to have good communication,” Cody said. “We need to push our teammates, but also not yell at each other. We needed to get together after every play, tell each other what we could have done better, work it out and move on in those kinds of situations.”
Mulada said with a championship on the line, she’s trusting her team’s brand of lacrosse.
“Our mentality will be the same as it’s always been,” Mulada said. “Playing our game, sticking to our plan and having a lot of energy.”
Tess Ferguson is a reporter on Newsday's high school sports staff. She joined the team after graduating with a journalism degree from Ithaca College in 2025.
