In one of the most competitive games on the slate for week 1 at the Stony Brook University Indoor Complex, the two time defending Class B Long Island Champions from Garden City held on for a 7-4 victory over the sophomores of YJ Torre/Mitchell in the LILJ High School Winter League. The game, held on December 3 at 11:30 am, featured a perennial high school powerhouse against one of the top 20 club lacrosse programs in the country.
Garden City and YJ Torre/Mitchell were evenly matched in the first half, which ended with Garden City slightly ahead, leading 5-4 as they closed the first half on a 3-0 scoring run. In the second half, Garden City extended their lead, adding 2 more goals while shutting out YJ Torre/Mitchell, culminating in a final score of 7-4.
For Garden City key contributors included Molly Nicholas, who was a standout with 3 goals and 1 assist. Elizabeth Curth also made big contributions, providing an assist and securing ground balls. Between the lines and doing all of the little things was the Binghamton commit senior Emily Romeo, while goalkeeper Niamh Pfaff the Yale commit had a great game between the posts, saving 52% of the shots she faced with a total of 10 saves.
YJ Torre/Mitchell saw notable performances from Sara Richardt, who scored 2 goals, and Lila Callahan and Taylor Reising, each adding a goal. Goalkeepers Bella Marciano and Hailey Stratton shared duties combining to keep their team very much in the game, with Marciano saving shots at a 62% clip, and Stratton saving 50% of the shots on goal.
Garden City was without some of their key players including Maureen Arendt, Regan Backer, Tori Ottomanelli, and Ari Haffner who they will hope to have in week 2 when they go up against Mt. Sinai at 9:15 am. YJ Torre/Mitchell will face the 2027 YJ Graz/Stadler team at 1:45.
