Julia Lilienthal's six saves help Sayville claim Suffolk Class C girls lacrosse championship
Sayville players celebrate after winning the Suffolk Class C girls lacrosse championship over Harborfields at Stony Brook University on Sunday. Credit: Brittney Dietz
It’s the feeling the Sayville girls lacrosse team has been searching for all season. From 2024, when it hoisted the county trophy for the first time since 2014, to last season, when it fell in the championship game to crosstown rival Bayport-Blue Point.
This year, the Golden Flashes are champions again. Top-seeded Sayville defeated No. 2 Harborfields, 11-7, in the Suffolk Class C championship game on Sunday at Stony Brook.
“This means everything because they 100% deserve it,” coach Gary Jensen said. “The culture they’ve created, they support each other. They push each other and, it sounds cliche, but they truly love each other and just want to play another week.”
Sayville (18-0) will face South Side in the Long Island championship game at 3 p.m. on Sunday 7 at Stony Brook.
The score was knotted at 4-4 for most of the second quarter when, with just under a minute remaining, Olivia Razzano connected with Sophia Buffardi in transition. Buffardi found the back of the cage to give Sayville a 5-4 halftime lead.
The momentum carried through the break. Morgan Farrell started off a four-goal quarter that built Sayville’s lead to 9-5.
Farrell, Razzano and Dylan McNamara each recorded two goals and an assist.
“We trust each other so much that if I made mistakes, my teammates would make up for them, and if they made mistakes, I would try to make up for them,” Farrell said. “The first half wasn’t pretty, but we knew that we all have each other’s backs.”
When Harborfields turned it on, so did goalkeeper Julia Lilienthal. Lilienthal made six saves against a Tornadoes offense that was firing on all cylinders.
Nora Ruddy scored four goals and grabbed six draw controls for Harborfields (14-4).
“When my teammates make a mistake, they’re sprinting to get back on defense,” Lilienthal said. “I can’t really do that, so I have to have their back in my own way. I need to make sure I can come up with those big saves to have my team’s back.”
Last time Sayville won the county title, a state championship soon followed. Lilienthal said the feeling of missing out last season will continue to propel her team forward.
“I remember watching the other team celebrate last year and that really stuck with me throughout the whole season,” Lilienthal said.
“Playing with that fire behind us really helped us get here.”
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.
