Huntington's Valentina Puccio nets four goals as Blue Devils claim back-to-back Suffolk Class A girls lacrosse titles
Valentina Puccio of Huntington looks to pass the ball during the Suffolk Class A girls lacrosse final against Ward Melville at Stony Brook University on Sunday. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
The Huntington girls lacrosse team needed to prove it wasn’t a one-time occurrence.
Last year, the Blue Devils earned their first Suffolk Class A title with a one-goal win over Ward Melville. This time around, it was almost a mirror image. Second-seeded Huntington outlasted top-seeded Ward Melville, 6-5, in the championship game Sunday morning at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium.
In her first year at the helm, Huntington coach Megan Marinelli said this comes as no shock to her athletes.
“Some people might have been surprised we were back, but there was absolutely no question in these girls’ minds,” Marinelli said. “They’re so tough, they work so hard, they hold each other accountable and they never count themselves out.”
Huntington (17-2) will face Massapequa in the Long Island Class A championship/Southeast Regional final at 10 a.m. Sunday at Stony Brook.
The same two programs met last year, and Huntington won, 12-8.
Valentina Puccio scored her fourth goal of the game with 8:02 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Huntington a 6-5 lead. With more than half the quarter still remaining, it became a game of defense.
When Ward Melville had possession with just over four minutes remaining, goalie Juliet Johnson came up with a huge interception to send the ball back in Huntington’s direction. In Ward Melville’s final scramble to tie the score with 16 seconds remaining, Leighton Evans caused a turnover as time expired.
“In the moment, I was freaking out a little bit,” Johnson said. “But that’s expected in games like this. We knew we were capable of winning back-to-back; all we had to do was execute. All I can feel right now is pure joy.”
Nicole Manolakes and Vivienne Speidell scored two goals each for Ward Melville (16-3).
Johnson recorded nine saves. Her performance kept the Blue Devils ahead, but it was Puccio’s four goals that got them there in the first place. When Puccio put the ball in the back of the net, she said she trusted her team to hold the line.
“My team set me up so well for that goal and we just knew that we got this,” she said. “We just had to give it everything we had for the whole fourth quarter, and we did. It feels great to do this back-to-back.”
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.
