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Might as well call it the Long Island Bowl.
A whopping 18 Suffolk County high school lacrosse stars stock the rosters of the two teams playing today for the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse championship.
The group includes Bayport-Blue Point sisters Courtney and Cassidy Weeks, who rank sixth and seventh in scoring for Boston College (17-3), and their teammate Belle Smith, a standout freshman from Westhampton Beach who has 45 goals in her rookie season. A total of five women from Suffolk schools play for Boston College.
The Golden Eagles upended No. 1 North Carolina, 11-10, on Friday in the semi-finals, earning the chance to take on perennial powerhouse Syracuse at noon today in the championship in Towson, Maryland. ESPNU is broadcasting the game live.
Syracuse (17-3) features Mt. Sinai’s Meaghan and Emma Tyrrell. Meaghan, a junior, leads Syracuse in scoring with 67 goals and 110 total points. Emma, a sophomore, has chipped in 41 goals.
Emma Ward, a freshman from Babylon High School, is second on Syracuse in scoring with 70 points, including 41 goals. Syracuse defeated No. 2 Northwestern, 21-13, in the semi-finals.
This spring, GreaterSayville.com counted up the dozens of Suffolk stars who were on the rosters of the top five NCAA women’s teams at the time. Below is the original story from March 30:
The nation’s best women’s lacrosse programs are peppered with former Suffolk County high school stars.
Among the top five ranked teams in the country this week, 32 players are alumnae of high schools in Suffolk. This includes 13 playing at Syracuse, seven at Notre Dame, five at Boston College and seven at top-ranked North Carolina. No. 3 Northwestern has three players from Nassau on its roster, but none from Suffolk County.
Six players in this Suffolk group are products of Mount Sinai High School’s powerhouse lacrosse program. And three each are from Bayport-Blue Point, Huntington and Westhampton Beach high schools.
Here’s a breakdown of who’s playing where.
No. 1 North Carolina
Jamie Ortega, senior attack
High school: Centereach
Ortega is the the reigning Inside Lacrosse Co-National Player of the Year with teammate and fellow Long Islander Katie Hoeg. Already a three-time All-America player, the communications studies major began this season tied for fourth in school history in career goals with 183 and fifth in career points with 243. Through 10 games in 2021, she has 43 goals and 14 assists, including a five-goal outburst in North Carolina’s 18-3 win over Mercer last Saturday. She ranks second in the nation in points with 57. Ortega left high school as New York state’s all-time high school leader in points with 588, including 402 goals.
Katie Hoeg, senior attack
High school: Mattituck
The Inside Lacrosse Co-player of the Year in 2020 holds the Tar Heels record for most assists in a season (73 in 2019) and entered 2021 as North Carolina’s all-time leader in points and assists. Hoeg is a two-time first-team All-America pick. The bio major tallied nine points in North Carolina’s 15-5 win over highly ranked James Madison this month. In 2021, she has 19 goals and 31 assists; she’s fourth in the country with 50 points. In six varsity high school seasons, she put up 500 career points for Mattituck. She was the valedictorian of her graduating class.
Maddie Hoffer, junior defender
High school: Sachem North
This is the third season that Hoffer has served as a team captain for the Tar Heels. She started all seven North Carolina games in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and has played in five games this season. At Sachem North, Hoffer was a three-sport student-athlete, also lettering numerous seasons in basketball and volleyball.
Kerrigan Miller, graduate midfielder
High school: Bayport-Blue Point
Miller played four seasons on the West Coast at USC, including the COVID-tainted 2020 season, before transferring to North Carolina to play her final season and chase a national championship as a graduate student. She is a two-time All-America player and was twice named the Pac-12’s Midfielder of the Year. At Bayport-Blue Point, she was a five-year varsity player, twice earning all-Long Island honors. She has 13 goals, three assists and nine ground balls this season for the undefeated Tar Heels.
Taylor Moreno, senior goalie
High school: Huntington
Moreno has been one of the nation’s top goalies throughout her career at North Carolina, and has been a key force in the team’s 10-0 start in 2021. In high school, Moreno incredibly earned 10 varsity letters in lacrosse, soccer, basketball, track and football, combined. She was the first girl in Huntington High School history to play varsity football when she kicked for the team.
Alexa Gentile, freshman attack
High school: Northport
Coming out of high school, Gentile was ranked by Inside Lacrosse as the No. 25 incoming freshman in the nation for the 2021 season. Gentile was on the varsity team at Northport for six seasons, though she missed her junior year in 2019 due to a torn ACL and her senior season because of the pandemic. An early commit to North Carolina, she also played basketball in high school.
Melissa Sconone, sophomore attack
High school: East Islip
Sconone has four goals and five assists this season. She was a three-sport student-athlete at East Islip, playing four years of varsity lacrosse. Her dad Robert is the former head football coach of Patchogue-Medford High School.
No. 2 Syracuse
Meaghan Tyrrell, junior attack
High school: Mount Sinai
Tyrrell ranks second on Syracuse this season with 20 goals and 13 assists. She started all eight games in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, scoring 19 goals and tallying eight assists. During her freshman season in 2019, she ranked second on the team in goals with 37. In high school, she was the 2018 Long Island Player of the Year and helped lead Mount Sinai to three state championships. She finished high school with 214 goals and 127 assists.
Emma Tyrrell, sophomore midfield
High school: Mount Sinai
Emma has seven goals and five assists this season, including a career-high three goals against Notre Dame on March 14.
Vanessa Costantino, graduate midfielder
High school: West Islip
A key player for Syracuse throughout her collegiate career, Costantino in high school was a Suffolk County Player of the Year, helping West Islip earn a state championship and two Long Island titles. She also played soccer and basketball.
Danielle Moreno, sophomore midfielder
High school: West Islip
Moreno has appeared in three of Syracuse’s six games this season.
Katie Goodale, freshman defense
High school: Riverhead
Goodale has played in four games this season.
Bella Recchion, graduate midfielder
High school: Westhampton Beach
Recchion was a two-time All County player at Westhampton Beach, where she also played volleyball and track and field. The East Quogue native has appeared in two games for Syracuse this season.
Ava Burns, sophomore defense
High school: Miller Place
Courtney Carollo, sophomore defense
High school: Ward Melville
The Setauket native played in four games as a freshman and has appeared in two games this season.
Ella Simkins, graduate defense
High school: Harborfields
A three-year starter who was second on the team in ground balls and caused turnovers in the 2020 shortened season. This season, Simkins ranks second on the team with nine caused turnovers.
Hallie Simkins, sophomore defense
High school: Harborfields
Ella Simkins has played in three games this season. In 2020, she played in four contests for the Orange.
Hannah Van Middelem, senior goalie
High school: Mount Sinai
Van Middelem has played in two games this season, after playing in six in 2020. She played in 12 games during her freshman season in 2018 before missing all of 2019 due to injury. In high school, she helped Mount Sinai capture four New York state championships, twice earning the team MVP award.
Emma Ward, freshman attack
High school: Babylon
In her rookie campaign, Ward has nine goals and seven assists, including a four-goal game in Syracuse’s 15-5 win over Duke on March 6.
Jenn Markey, freshman midfield
High school: Mount Sinai
Markey has played in five games this season and has one assist.
No. 4 Boston College
Belle Smith, freshman midfield
High school: Westhampton Beach
Smith has hit the ground running in her rookie campaign for the Eagles, already recording 20 goals and four assists. She ranks third on the team in goals. This month, she scored four goals in a 19-7 win over Hofstra. Last year, she was the No. 1 ranked midfielder and No. 2 overall recruit on Inside Lacrosse. Smith is a two-time U.S. Lacrosse All-American and a two-time USA Today first-team selection. She also earned Under Armour All-America honors four times. During her high school career, she scored 231 goals, and had 114 assists and 319 draw controls. The three-sport star — who also played volleyball and basketball in high school — was just the second girl ever to be named Newsday first-team All-Long Island in three sports.
Courtney Weeks, junior midfielder
High school: Bayport-Blue Point
Weeks has 12 goals this season, after tallying three goals in her first two seasons with Boston College. In high school, Weeks scored more than 30 goals during her sophomore season, then after missing most of her junior season due to an ACL injury, she scored more than 30 goals again in her senior year. An Under Armour and U.S. Lacrosse All-American in 2018, Weeks also played soccer for Bayport-Blue Point.
Cassidy Weeks, sophomore midfielder
High school: Bayport-Blue Point
As a redshirt freshman during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Weeks scored six goals. She has scored seven times for the Eagles this season.
Hollie Schleicher, sophomore midfield
High school: Westhampton Beach
Schleicher started each game of her rookie season in 2020, and has started each of the Eagles’ eight games this season. In high school, she also played field hockey and basketball. She was a second-team All-America lacrosse selection as a senior.
Hunter Roman, freshman defense
High school: St. Anthony’s High School
The St. James native earned team most valuable player honors with St. Anthony’s in 2019. For the Eagles in 2021, she has started in seven of the team’s eight games, tallying eight ground balls.
No. 5 Notre Dame
Kasey Choma, sophomore midfield
High school: Eastport-South Manor
Choma was an Inside Lacrosse third-team All-American as a freshman for the Fighting Irish in 2020, posting a team-high 22 goals. So far this season, she is second on the team with 19 goals and 20 points. The Manorville native guided Eastport to the 2019 New York state title and four straight Suffolk County championships.
Samantha Lynch, graduate attack
High school: Huntington
Twice this season, Lynch been named the ACC offensive Player of the Week. A key contributor throughout her career at Notre Dame, Lynch has 22 goals and 28 points this season. At Huntington, she lettered all four years in lacrosse, soccer and basketball. She was named to the Under Armour All-American girls lacrosse team her senior year.
Kristen Shanahan, freshman midfield
High school: Sachem East
As a junior in high school in 2019, Shanahan was named a U.S. Lacrosse Third-Team All-American, after scoring 57 goals with 12 assists. She earned All-State recognition in field hockey in 2018 and 2019.
Abby Maichin, freshman attack
High school: Huntington
A four-time New York state Scholar-Athlete Award honoree, Maichin led Huntington with 70 points (46 goals, 24 assists) as a junior in 2019. She did not play in 2020 due to the pandemic. She also played basketball in high school.
Hannah Dorney, junior midfield
High school: Comsewogue
As a freshman, Dorney was second on the team in goals with 16. She has three goals in three games played this season. She played varsity lacrosse in high school for five years. Dorney also played field hockey and basketball for Comsewogue.
Meaghan Scutaro, junior defense
High school: Mount Sinai
Scutaro has played in 19 games during her Notre Dame career, including seven this season. At Mount Sinai, she was a three-sport student-athlete, also competing in cross country and volleyball. She was a three-time New York state champion and a two-time Under Armour All-American in high school.
Kristen Scutaro, junior defense
High school: Mount Sinai
Meaghan Scutaro’s twin sister Kristen played in eight games during her freshman season in 2019, but did not play in 2020 due to an injury. In high school, she played for three state championship teams. She was also a member of Mount Sinai’s volleyball team.
Photo sources: University of Notre Dame, Boston College, University of North Carolina and Syracuse University.
