No. 24 Ranked Longwood Lions Team Preview

Staying in Suffolk County and landing at number 24 in the top 25 preseason rankings are the Longwood Lions. Coached by Randall Grossman who has been at the helm for 13 years, last season was a memorable one as they made the playoffs in Class A and won their first ever playoff game in the history of the program, defeating Walt Whitman in the opening round. This year they’ll look to take another step forward this season and they have a great chance to do so as they return their entire team with the exception of their All-County goalie Abby Warner. With plenty of continuity they expect to pick up right where they left off.

Beginning on the offensive end of the field, their top two attackers igniting the offense are Ava Franco (Mercy) and Ava Rivera (Mercer). The duo was Longwood’s top two goal scorers last year with 39 scored by Franco and 30 by Rivera. In total they combined for 88 points and will continue to be a dynamic duo. Along side them at attack is senior Brielle Belonzi (Dominican) coming off of a 17 point season and sophomore Olivia Morris who had four goals and five assists as a freshman. At midfield two of their key returning players are senior Campbell commit Olivia Hollingsworth and senior New Haven commit Olivia Kaelin.

On the defensive end of the field, the Lions return senior defenders Grace Galvin (Southern Connecticut State) and Brooke Morris (Bloomsburg). While they will no longer have 2024 graduate Abby Warner in the net, the team now makes the transition to sophomore Karly Giambone as their starting goalie. As a team their defense was very stout last season as they allowed fewer than eight goals per game.

With the start of the season approaching coach Grossman shared what some of the keys to another successful season will be this year.

“Success is going be based on offensive production and being able to raise the average goals per game scored. Working as a team and spreading the ball around with multiple goal scorers in every game will be the key to the offense. The defense should remain solid and keep goals against average down.”

Longwood’s season opener will be on March 26th in a non-league matchup against Mattituck, and their first league game of the season will be against Smithtown East on April 2nd.