Dominant second half leads Garden City into girls lacrosse state semis

SHRUB OAK — It’s not that Garden City was displeased with its first-half performance on Saturday night. The Trojans just knew they could be even better.

Minutes later, with a trip to the state semifinals on the line, they demonstrated exactly how dominant they can be.

Garden City defeated Yorktown, 18-5, in the state Class B Southeast Regional girls lacrosse final at Lakeland High School. The Trojans, who led 7-3 at halftime, outscored Yorktown 11-2 in the second half.

“In the beginning, it was close, and I really do think it was just a matter of cleaning up the small little things,” Averie Smith said. “And when we play a clean game, we will always win. And we know that.”

It’s hard to argue that after witnessing Garden City’s final 24 minutes on Saturday. The Trojans are hoping to carry that closing performance into the state Class B semifinals against Minisink Valley (16-2) on Friday at 2 p.m. at SUNY Cortland.

“I think we were playing pretty well [in the first half], we were close,” coach Dave Ettinger said. “But then I think it clicked. And when it clicks, we have the ability to really play well.”

Ten Trojans scored at least one goal and 12 recorded at least one point. Arcangela Haffner had three goals and two assists, Kimberly Colucci had three goals and an assist and Smith also scored three goals.

“We have so many talented players on our team, and going into a game like this, we want to be able to play our best,” Haffner said. “And if we can get the rest of the players who aren’t always in the game in, we are going to try and do that because everyone on this team is so special and so talented.”

Kathryn Monaco had two goals and an assist, Ashley Clark also scored twice and Deanna Prisco had a goal and two assists.

“I think we do have depth and the girls do an excellent job of sharing the ball,” Ettinger said. “Nobody cares who gets stats as long as we win the important stat and score more goals than them.”

Garden City, which advanced to the state Class B semifinal for the second time in three years, is seeking its first state title since 2017.

“It’s been [two years] since we got to go back up there, and I know everyone has been so dedicated this whole season and offseason to winning the last game of the season,” Smith said. “This is so important to us, and everyone knows that.”

“We have a lot of film to watch, a lot of late practices, scout practices, but I think we can do it,” Haffner said. “I have so much faith in our team. Every single girl on this team wants to win states and I hope we can do it with such a special group of girls.”