SWR girls lax comes up with a big victory at Lax Out Cancer event
On a day that meant so much to the Shoreham-Wading River community, the girls’ varsity lacrosse team ended the day with a much-needed victory over a fierce opponent in Babylon.
Shoreham-Wading River ran its annual Lax Out Cancer event on Saturday, May 9, where multiple school lacrosse teams played games throughout the day, while fundraising efforts were held to recognize and assist local families battling cancer.
In the past, volunteers raised more than $50,000 to help fund the fight for families. This year, the recipients were Ryan Pearl, Hunter LaRosa, Andy Hitz, Marguerite Flynn and Lisa Pesce. The final fundraising count this year hasn’t been finalized yet.
The Shoreham-Wading River girls lacrosse team was the last to play, and they put on a show. It’s been an up-and-down year for the Wildcats, who came into the day with a 6-6 overall record and holding on to hopes of making the playoffs. But when they fell behind 6-2 in the third quarter, those playoff aspirations seemed to be slipping away.
“I think in the beginning we had some turnovers that didn’t need to happen,” said Anabel Keegan, who scored three goals on the day. “We needed to take a deep breath and do a reset. Forget what the score was and forget what was happening. Then it all clicked.”
From that point, all the Wildcats did was score six unanswered goals the rest of the game and came away with the 8-6 victory over Babylon (9-5 Division II) at Thomas Cutinella Memorial Field.
The team became suddenly unrecognizable. Anabel’s twin sister, Kady, got in the scoring mix — and so did Maeve Bourguignon. Maddy Herr was credited with three assists as she sprinted from one end of the field to the other, making timely plays. Kady equaled her sister’s hat trick with one of her own.
“We’re just focusing on trying to get better every single day at practice,” Kady said. “We know how important every win is now at this point of the season. And especially on a special event like today.”
Herr, a junior who recently committed to Boston College for lacrosse, is among Suffolk County’s highest point scorers. The shifty midfielder has 63 points this season, including 31 goals and 32 assists. The offense runs through Herr.
When she’s on, everyone else follows suit.
Playing in Division II, Shoreham-Wading River, a “Class C” school, has to play against “Class B” schools as Section XI groups everyone that falls out of Division I into one spot. That means, more often than not, the Wildcats are playing against bigger schools, which in turn means bigger competition.
“We don’t shy away from the competition, no matter what size school we’re playing,” SWR head coach Alex Fehmel said. “But it does make things a little more difficult when it comes to securing a place in the playoffs. Obviously, our record is not where we want it, but we’ve also played some of the biggest schools in our division that we won’t see in the playoffs.”
Only five Class C schools make the playoffs, and as it stands, Shoreham-Wading River sits in third, despite being ranked 13th in Division II. They hold a razor-thin margin in terms of power points, ranking over schools like Mt. Sinai, Islip and Miller Place.
The Wildcats have two games remaining on the schedule against Mattituck (8-5) and Miller Place (7-5).
“If we want to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to win both games,” Fehmel said. “We don’t want to leave it up to anyone else. Win, and we’re in.”
