Violet Ortenzi's four goals lead Port Washington past Seaford
Violet Ortenzi of Port Washington moves toward the net during a game against Seaford on Tuesday at Port Washington. Credit: Dawn McCormick
All it takes is one quarter to change the outcome of a game.
In this case, Violet Ortenzi’s four-goal third quarter was the difference for the Port Washington girls lacrosse team in a 12-9 win over visiting Seaford in a non-league matchup on Tuesday.
Port Washington (3-3) held a 6-4 lead at halftime before Ortenzi’s dominant performance out of the break.
“I knew that we had to lock in for that third quarter because we were only up by two and that isn’t a comfortable lead for us,” Ortenzi said. “I had to put in that extra effort, that 110%, to help my team get this win.”
Ortenzi not only helped Port Washington by putting the ball in the back of the cage, she also began taking the draw in the second half, which was crucial to the Vikings’ possession. Seaford (2-4) narrowly edged Port Washington in draw controls (13-12), but Ortenzi’s takeover is what closed the gap.
“We’ve been talking a lot about how we need to stay consistent with a big emphasis on 50/50 ground balls,” Port Washington coach Pamela Giordano said. “In the second half, that started to make a difference when we started to win those ground balls on the draw circle and gain more possession.”
Seaford had a strong fourth quarter, outscoring the Vikings 4-2. But goalkeeper Hayes Hassett worked to hold the Vikings lead. Without the senior’s nine-save performance to anchor the Vikings' defense, the outcome may have looked different.
“She’s one of the hardest working people we have on this team,” Giordano said. “She only started playing goalie as a freshman and she’s made such an improvement since then. She had a really strong warmup and her mental was there, which really grounded us.”
Kelly Harrington led Seaford with four goals and an assist.
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.
