New Head Coach Leads Blue Devil Girls’ Lax
March 20, 2023
In her first year as head coach, Katie Reilly is already well on the way to putting her stamp on the Huntington High School girls’ lacrosse program. The Blue Devil players seem to have bought into the Princeton alum’s philosophy as she goes about trying to perfect their skills and implement plays and strategies and set in place the foundation for a strong team.
Huntington opens on Saturday at Farmingdale at 11 a.m. The Blue Devils play their first league game at Patchogue-Medford next Tuesday at 5 p.m. League games will follow with Lindenhurst, Northport, Commack, Copiague, Bay Shore, Brentwood, Walt Whitman, Connetquot, Middle Country, Ward Melville, Sachem East, William Floyd and Smithtown East.
Huntington will host Cold Spring Harbor in a non-league game on Wednesday, April 5 at 10 a.m.
Reilly is assisted by high school physical education teachers Christopher Taylor and Lauren Blackburn. Chiara Maimone and Ivano Naccarato. Hildi Stanford and Gregory Dieterich will coach the team at J. Taylor Finley Middle School.
“We feel that Huntington’s outlook is bright,” Reilly said. “We have a lot of underclassmen returning from last year and hope that with the help of the veterans we can rebuild this up to a strong perennial power.”
Huntington is led by seniors Laurel Bonn, Gianna Forte and Grace Agrillo; junior Kayleigh Bender and freshman Jolie Weinschreider.
Bonn, the valedictorian of Huntington’s Class of 2023 and Agrillo are headed to Binghamton University to play lacrosse. Forte will be attending Stony Brook University and playing lacrosse there.
“Laurel is one of the best defenders on Long Island,” Reilly said. “She knows the game so well and her stick skills are incredible. You would never know she is solely a defender. It is unfortunate she got hurt last spring, but she is recovered and she was All-State during the field hockey season.”
Forte tallied 46 goals and 12 assists at midfield as a junior. “Gianna was extremely consistent for Huntington last year and was our top point scorer,” Reilly said. “She frequently came through with huge goals against the best teams on Long Island.”
Agrillo notched eight goals and six assists at midfield last spring. “Grace is an extremely dynamic midfielder who has an explosive first step,” Reilly said. “She has an innate ability to dodge between defenders and get to the cage. Huntington is looking for her to take on a larger role this year as a player and leader.”
Bender had 12 goals and five assists as a sophomore before being sidelined by injury for most of the season. Now fully healthy, she expects to be one of the Blue Devils’ best players. “She is a player that is underrated and who will hopefully play a large part in Huntington’s offense this season,” Reilly said.
Weinschreider stepped into the varsity lineup as an eighth grader and immediately made an impact with four goals and three assists at midfield. “She was one of our grittiest players, earning herself a starting spot on the draw circle and showing her offensive prowess as well in times of need,” Reilly said.
Huntington will be putting many other talented players on the field, including an outstanding nucleus of eighth, ninth and tenth graders.
A 2016 Huntington alum, Reilly went on the captain the Princeton lacrosse team, earning an undergraduate degree in politics from the Ivy League school. She obtained a Master of Social Work degree at Stony Brook University.
The 24 year old Reilly is putting the team through what amounts to a college practice that she’s modified for the high school level. She’s paying close attention to what she considers are “all the little details, often overlooked, that mean the difference between winning and losing.”
“The first week of lacrosse has been really good,” Forte said. “I give a lot of credit to both the team and the coaches for working so hard to try and bring Huntington lacrosse back! We have so much potential and are just scratching the surface at the moment! I’m super excited to get into playing games.”
