Girls lacrosse: Northport comes alive in second half to beat Suffern in state Class A semis

CORTLAND — Maybe it was just a matter of time.

On paper, Section 11 Northport entered its Class A girls lacrosse state semifinal game against Section 1-champion Suffern as the favorite.

As good as 17-win Suffern was, 19-win Northport just seemed to have more depth.

After all, its fourth leading scorer was committed to play next year for Division I North Carolina, this year's No. 1 team in the country.

Still, at the half, Suffern led 5-4 and had done the unlikely, limiting Kaylie Mackiewicz, a 2021 All-American and shoo-in for that honor this year, to one assist and keeping Ella Cabrera, the UNC commit, totally out of the scorebook.

But, with its top players coming to life, the Tigers went on a 5-0 run to start the second half, en route to a 12-7 win.

What it means

Section 11 Northport, now 20-1, will play Section 3 Baldwinsville (a 7-6 winner over Section 5 Rush-Henrietta) Saturday for the Class A championship.

Suffern finished the season 17-4.

Player of the game

Isabella Germani and Shannon Smith shared top game honors.

Germani, who'll play for Stony Brook University next year, led all scorers with four goals. She scored three consecutive times in the second half. Her third goal put the Tigers up 10-5 with 14:43 left and came after she hustled to beat Suffern goalie Aerin O'Brien to her own rebound.

Smith, who'll suit up for High Point University in 2023, had three goals and an assist.

She scored just 20 seconds into the second half to tie the score at 5 off a Mackiewicz assist before feeding Mackiwicz for a one-timer little more than three minutes later to give Northport a lead it would never relinquish.

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By the numbers

Suffern took a 1-0 lead in the game's first minute on Maryland-bound senior Emma Muchnick's first of three goals. But it didn't lead again until Callie Drab scored off a pretty Kate Burns feed in the last minute of the half to put it up 5-4.

Two of Suffern's first-half goals followed great stops by O'Brien. The first was on a high-stuff-in attempt off the right post, which was followed by an 8-meter free Muchnick score that drew Suffern to within one at 4-3. The other was off a low 8-meter free try, fewer than 20 seconds before the Drab goal.

But both goalies had huge saves.

Tiger keeper Megan Morris had 11 saves. Included were multiple 8-meter stops, including one that preserved Northport's momentum with it leading 8-5.

O'Brien had nine stops. Her best might have been a basket stop on a 1-on-0 in which Smith ran in untouched with 10:20 left to play.

Julia Hustable scored twice for the Tigers. Mackiewicz finished with one goal and four assists and junior Emma McLam and Cabrera both scored once.

Jenna Myhal, Madison Leale, Michaela Fay and Drab each had one goal for Suffern and Burns had its only assist.

Muchnick, who was closely guarded by McLam throughout the game, earned All-Tournament honors and O'Brien and McLam won sportsmanship awards.

Quotables

The junior McLam said she wasn't told until right before the game that she'd be shadowing the two-time All-American Muchnick.

"(They said) she was a great player and we needed to shut her off. We had to be aware of where she was all of the time," McLam said, crediting her teammates for helping to limit Muchnick when she got away from her.

Of her team's second-half surge, McLam said, "When we get momentum, no one can really stop us."

Suffern coach John Callanan noted Muchnick, who'd been very effective in shutting down Mackiewicz in the first half, was reassigned in the second half to free her up more.

But he pointed to the difference in the game coming down to Northport winning draws and then capitalizing on that as the second half started.

"They came out real quick and it changed everything," he said.

But that wasn't the full story.

Callanan, who praised the eighth-grader Fay as a "special player," who'd help create multiple 8-meter free shots, also concluded, "We just didn't execute. ... Unfortunately, we didn't bring our A game."

Although disappointed, Muchnick, a five-year varsity player, said, "I'm still proud of this team."

"Especially this year, we were a family," she said.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey. 

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Northport beats Suffern 12-7 in state Class A semis