Garden City girls lacrosse team's Michaela Molgano, Kimberly Colucci fuel Trojans' back-to-back LI titles

Garden City senior captain Averie Smith held the Long Island Class B championship plaque with both hands and lifted it into the air, surrounded by screaming teammates. Goaltender Teagan Gately quieted the group before everyone began chanting and singing again.

It hasn’t been as easy as Garden City’s girls lacrosse team has made it look. Claire Arendt, Kate Scuderi and captain Deanna Prisco — all Division I commits — are out with injuries. And yet, for the second consecutive year, the Trojans rule Long Island.

Garden City defeated Westhampton, 13-6, on Sunday at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium in the Long Island Class B championship game. Garden City (18-2) will face Section I’s Nyack in a state semifinal game at 11:30 a.m. Friday at SUNY Cortland.

Michaela Molgano scored the first goal of the game, kick-starting a five-point day with three goals and two assists. Garden City led 3-0 after a quarter and 6-1 at halftime.

“The feeling is amazing,” Molgano said. “We’ve been working hard all season for this, but the job’s not done yet. We want to go upstate and win the last game of the year.”

Gately made six of her 14 saves in the first quarter alongside defender Jessy Martin and midfielders Ciara Hegarty and Grace Brantuk.

There’s nothing quite like celebrating a Long Island championship. But doing it twice in as many years… that’s even better.

Garden City’s girls lacrosse team beat Westhampton to take the Long Island Class B title Sunday at Stony Brook.

Here’s how the Trojans celebrated: pic.twitter.com/y71LQewVUG

— Michael Sicoli (@Michael__Sicoli) June 7, 2026

Coach Dave Ettinger noted that he challenged Gately, a sophomore, to study Westhampton’s attackers.

“She came back to me with a nice little report, and I think that was evident in the first quarter,” Ettinger said.

Kimberly Colucci had four goals, all within the first 30 minutes. Molgano’s free-position goal with 0.6 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Trojans an 11-2 lead. They were two of six Trojans to have multiple points.

“It’s hard [for opponents] to just take Kim out of the game and be OK,” Ettinger said. “And Kim’s fine with Michaela having the points, or Averie or Regan [Backer] or any of them. They’re very unselfish, and that’s what you need to be.”

Highlights from Garden City v Westhampton:

GC’s Michaela Molgano opens the scoring off a FP.

WH’s Mia Brown robs a shot on the doorstep.

GC’s Teagan Gately denies a FP, part of a 10-save first half.

WH’s Brown makes a great save vs. an impressive shot from GC’s Grace Brantuk. pic.twitter.com/7I0DO19Ip4

— Michael Sicoli (@Michael__Sicoli) June 7, 2026

The loss ended a Cinderella run for Westhampton, which overcame a 5-8 start to win a county title as Suffolk’s No. 4 seed. Coach Mary Bergmann praised her team’s resilience during that run, noting the example these Hurricanes set for the future of the program.

“For the seniors, it shows what leaders they were,” Bergmann said. “Everybody else who bought into the culture here; it’s not what it was at 5-8, it’s what we just showed over a winning streak.”