Rising up the ladder in the top 24 preseason rankings, at number eight it’s one of Long Island’s storied programs the Northport Tigers led by longtime head coach Carol Rose. The Tigers have been the team to beat in Suffolk Class A the past three seasons, appearing in the Long Island Championship three years in a row, but last season they were defeated in the LIC against Massapequa in what was a 9-8 overtime game. This year Northport comes back with another great team that will have a chance to go on another long playoff run as they look to make it four straight county titles and a third Long Island Championship in the last four seasons.
Offensively Northport graduated key players from last seasons team at both attack and midfield, but have plenty of returning talent that still makes this team a very formidable offense that will be difficult to defend. Their top two returning attackers is senior USF commit Julia Huxtable, and sophomore Kate Atkinson. The lefty Huxtable comes off another strong season last year where she found the back of the net often and at ease, with 46 goals as well as 16 assists for 62 points and she will be the quarterback of the offense this year. In the 2026 class Atkinson proves to be one of the best in class and has already set the island by storm as a freshman last season, leading all of Long Island in scoring with 81 points in the 2027 class. With another three seasons of varsity look for Atkinson to continue being a dynamic offensive force and a top pure scorer on the island for this contending team. Also at attack in the senior class is Binghamton commit Christina Lauro who is in line for an impactful season after recording 19 points last year, along with Adelphi bound senior Kayleen Mulry, and senior LIU commit Lauren Baudier. Two young gun attackers to watch this season are Riley Cash and Julianna Tiejen in the 2027 class after both seeing the field briefly as eighth graders where Cash recored six points and Tietjen seven.
The midfield is led by senior Kennedy Radziul who broke out in a big way last year, going for 52 goals and 26 assists for 72 points which was second the team. In addition to her offensive prowess, Radziul will look to have a big presence on the draw circle, taking a large share of the draws in place of 2023 graduate Grace McCarthy. Statistically Northport was the top offense on the island last year, averaging 14.3 goals per game, a number that will win them plenty of games this year if they can replicate it.
On the defensive side of the field they have a top flight defender in the sophomore class in Emma Greenberg, who is a lockdown on-ball defender that has been starting on this team dating back to the eighth grade. Also in the 2026 class is Sophia Mele, entering her second season on varsity and will be an impact defender. The defense returns juniors Leah Riccardi (Elon) and Mary Breckling, as their defensive core will be playing in front of sophomore Charlotte Cuneo, replacing 2023 graduate Megan Morris. In a small sample size Cueno recorded 14 saves in 2023.
Northport will look to prove this season that the road through Suffolk Class A still runs through them as they go for four straight county titles.
Let’s Go Northport!!