The third-seeded Manhasset Indians varsity girls lacrosse team has lost their Nassau Class B championship game to top-seeded Garden City Trojans, 9-8, Wednesday night at Bethpage High School. The Trojans would net the game winning goal with 29.2 seconds left in regulation and put an end to a fantastic season for the Indians.
Despite taking the Trojans to the championship game, Indians head coach Danielle Gallagher felt the rivalry between these two teams has been tremendous over the past couple of seasons.
“We always had a big rivalry with them” said Gallagher. “A few years ago, we got moved from a Class C school to a Class B school. That kind of intensified the rivalry.”
Over the course of the past few seasons, it would come down to the Indians, Trojans and the Wantagh Warriors fighting for supremacy in the conference. In 2012, the Indians would go on to lose against the Trojans in the championship game.
They would exact revenge the following year and eventually capture a Long Island Championship.
Two seasons ago, the Indians would triumph once again as they would go all the way to the State Finals to win their first title since 2003.
Fast forward to 2016, the in conference rivals remain intact and the two powerhouses would add another classic installment to their historic rivalry. The Indians would lose an overtime thriller to the Trojans 9-8 in the Woodstick Classic back on April 30.
In the Nassau B Championship game, the Indians would lose by the same score but it would end in the dying seconds of regulation. In the first half, the Trojans outscored the Indians 4-3 and the second half had both teams combining for 10 goals.
Although it was hard to mount a comeback after being down 4-0, the girls managed to fight back and put in a full team effort till the end. Gallagher stressed that they were playing scared and competitive defensively but they just couldn’t capitalize on their chances.
“We got into a big hole and couldn’t get out” said Gallagher. “We had our opportunities. We took a lot of shots and unfortunately we just didn’t finish.”
Looking back on this past season, there is plenty to be proud of. Gallagher praises the seniors for guiding them to another magnificent run and for their leadership. They graduated lot of seniors last season with five players named “As always, we have a great group of seniors who worked their tails off” said Gallagher. “They do a great job of being good role models to the younger kids and it teaches them that teamwork is the key to success. That has been the key to success for many many years.”
