How the Huntington, Sayville and Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse teams earned state titles

HUNTINGTON 

Huntington’s path to its first girls lacrosse state championship was extremely difficult. The Blue Devils knew they would have to win five games that would be battles in order to call themselves champions, and they did just that.

In the Suffolk semifinals, Ava Bencivenga scored the overtime winner to take down Northport, and that sparked Huntington’s run of winning close games.

“In each game we started slow and the scoreboard showed we were down,” senior Jolie Weinschreider said. “But we almost liked being down because we always fight back, and it motivates us.”

Huntington (20-2) won its next four games by three goals or fewer. The Blue Devils trailed against Ward Melville in the county final and Massapequa in the Long Island championship, but rallied to win both games and claim a second straight Long Island title.

The defense stepped up in the state semifinal and final, allowing only one total goal in the second half of those contests. Madyn Kalb was a difference-maker. In the semifinal, she locked down Suffern’s top player, Maryland commit Michaela Fay, in an 8-6 win. In the state Class A final, she contained Penfield’s top player, Syracuse commit Peyton Rothfuss, in a 9-6 victory in the title game. Fay and Rothfuss each scored two goals, but none in the second half.

Olivia Puccio led the offense, scoring seven goals over the two wins upstate.

“We all came together in those games,” Puccio said. “We were all collectively bought in. We were so pumped up for this moment because we knew we’ve never done this before, and I didn’t want to end this any other way.”

Sophomore Juliet Johnson made six saves in the state title game as the Blue Devils cemented themselves in school history.

“We just go off the belief we have in each other,” Johnson said. “We knew we had it in us to win this championship. We got stops on defense, we won ground balls. We were down, but we stopped them from scoring and it all came together. There is no better feeling.”

ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

County final: def Ward Melville, 6-5

L.I. final: def Massapequa, 9-6

State semifinal: def Suffern, 8-6

State final: def Penfield, 9-6

SAYVILLE

Sayville’s girls lacrosse team suffered heartbreak in the Suffolk Class C final in 2025. The loss stung so much that the 2026 squad made sure to not have to deal with that feeling again.

At all.

Sayville responded by going 21-0 and winning its second state title in three years. The team also went 21-0 in 2024.

“We ended up losing last year and they just didn’t like that,” Sayville coach Gary Jensen said. “We had a meeting in September. They all came to the table with the same thing in mind. They wanted it and were willing to sacrifice whatever it took to get there. I think every single kid was on the same page.”

And that resulted in another season for the school history books.

The state semifinal was against Rye, the same team Sayville beat in the 2024 state final. Rye had a high-powered offense, but Sayville stopped it in an 11-7 win. In the state Class C final, Sayville jumped out to a 6-0 lead over Jamesville-DeWitt after one quarter, getting three goals from Dylan McNamara, and cruised to a 15-7 win.

“We’ve been so dominant all season,” said Sophia Buffardi, who had four goals. “We’re connected as a unit and we just love each other, and it translates to the field.”

Sayville did not allow double-digit goals once all season.

“I give all credit to our goalie Julia Lilienthal,” defender Morgan Farrell said. “She’s been my goalie my entire life and I think she’s one of the best goalies out there. She’s super underrated and she is amazing. She makes the biggest stops and we feel so confident with her behind us, and we communicate through everything together.”

ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

County final: def Harborfields, 11-7

L.I. final: def South Side 8-5

State semifinal: def Rye 11-7

State final: def Jamesville-DeWitt 15-7

COLD SPRING HARBOR

The Cold Spring Harbor girls lacrosse team has sat atop Class D in the state for three straight years. Even so, the team still feels like an underdog.

The Seahawks completed their state championship three-peat with an 11-8 win over Penn Yan Academy (Section V) on June 13 at SUNY Cortland. And they did it all with a brand new squad that featured only one senior.

“We did all of this with a new group,” coach Danielle Castellane said. “And it wasn’t expected of us to do this again. I think people needed to be convinced. Sometimes even the coaches needed to be convinced, but the best part about these kids is that they do the convincing. The moment keeps getting bigger and they keep stepping up.”

Standout attacker Olivia Mulada led the team with 98 points (61 goals, 37 assists) as Cold Spring Harbor finished 16-5.

Sophomores Kaitlin Millett (five goals) and Hannah Sliwak (three) led the way in the state final. Sliwak said despite the team’s youth, the chemistry came easy.

“We’re a very young team, but we all clicked so quickly and it shows up on the field in the way we support each other no matter what,” Sliwak said. “If someone makes a mistake, we can always rely on each other and I think that’s what gets us through games like this.”

Junior goalkeeper Audrey Davidian made 14 saves over the semifinal and championship games, anchoring Cold Spring Harbor’s defense. In her first year starting, she totaled 171 saves.

“We came in as the freshmen of the power league,” Davidian said. “We’re young, we don’t have as much experience, but we took that label and ran with it. It’s genuinely one of the best feelings to know that we came together to make this happen again. I’m so, so proud of us.”

ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Nassau Class D final: def. Carle Place, 17-3

Long Island Class D final: def. Bayport-Blue Point, 9-7

State Class D semifinal: def. Pleasantville, 16-13

State Class D final: def. Penn Yan Academy, 11-8.