Mattituck/Southold Grabs Lax Championship

The East End isn’t exactly a hotbed of girls lacrosse, but the combined Mattituck/Southold team seems to be catching on nicely, thank you.

In fact, the Lady Tuckers earned a berth in the New York State Class C Final Four last year in only the seventh year of the program, only to lose to Bronxville.

This year, the two teams were back again in a realigned tournament that had both teams competing in Class D, and the results were altogether different: the locals turned the tables, surprising Bronxville 12-1 Saturday at SUNY/Cortland to earn the program’s first ever title.

The locals came out of the gate firing and the onslaught was such that Bronxville, a tournament tested team with an 18-4 win loss record going in, simply buckled. The shots came like automated weapon fire, and six found the net in the first stanza.

The Lady Broncos, meanwhile, on their heels, were unable to amount any sort of offensive attack.

Mackenzie Hoeg, the deserving tournament MVP, put up two goals and one assist as did her sister, Riley, who assisted her sister for one of the goals. Jane DiGregorio had two goals and two assists and Maddie Schmidt (twice), Chelsea Marlborough, and Rachel Janis also scored.

Mattituck prevailed in the semifinal game a day earlier against South Falls, 7-6. Marlborough had an assist and two goals and Julie Seifert scored twice.

Alex Talbot repelled all five shots that headed her way as the Lady Tuckers held their opponents to a single goal, a record for the tournament.

The locals barely got by a strong South Jefferson team a day earlier to advance to the final. It took a last second save to secure the game. The Spartans’ Mia Buckingham bore down on the Mattituck goal with seconds remaining.

Buckingham’s bid was the final piece of a three-pass, 55-yard dash in 15.4 seconds. Buckingham uncorked a low, hard bullet but the Tuckers’ Claudia Hoeg turned it away to preserve the win.

Incidentally, Mack Hoeg finished ninth in the county in scoring with 83 points, five more than her sister, who finished 10th.

rmurphy@indyeastend.com