Huntington Girls’ Lax Upsets Smithtown East, 8-6

Senior Grace Agrillo held Suffolk’s leading scorer to a single goal to help propel the Huntington girls’ lacrosse team to an upset victory at Smithtown East, 8-6.

One day shy of her eighteenth birthday, Agrillo played the best game of her career. Outstanding defensively, the teenager was also spectacular offensively with three goals and an assist.

“I have been practicing the face guard in practice a ton,” Agrillo said. “She had fast foot work and good stick skills, but I was able to read her hips well and if she did get the ball we doubled her, which made her get rid of it quick.”

But while Agrillo (15 goals; 7 assists) was splendid, this win wasn’t about any one player. Huntington relied on every player on the field to beat a strong Smithtown East team on its home field.

The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and held a 5-3 halftime advantage Smithtown East caught up early in the second frame before Huntington regained the lead and kept it with a pair of some of the best ball control sequences in the program’s history.

Kayleigh Bender (40g; 26a) had two goals and two assists. Gianna Forte (32g; 19a) tallied a goal and an assist. Devon St. John (20g; 5a) and Jolie Weinschreider (29g; 5a) also scored goals in the game. Eighth grade goalie Andie DiGioia made six saves to record her 10th win of the spring. She now has 82 saves this season.

“This was a huge step up in the climb,” Bender said. “We played a complete game for the whole 50 minutes and wanted it more than Smithtown East. This win proves to everyone that we’re a strong contender in the postseason.”

Forte played the entire game and was a key component in the Blue Devils’ ball control efforts. “The key to winning was staying composed and being confident in every single girl on the field,” Forte said. “All 12 girls on the field gave everything they had today and I could not be more proud of every single girl on our team. This was 100 percent a signature win for our program.”

Laurel Bonn and the defensive unit consisting of Ava McDonald, Reese Rinaldi and Kyra Larsen was sensational. They hustled, broke up plays and got the ball back into Huntington’s hands. Rinaldi held Suffolk’s fourth leading goal scorer to a single assist.

“Today we proved exactly what Huntington girls’ varsity lacrosse is: gritty and hard working,” Bonn said. “In this game we played the best lacrosse I’ve ever seen us play. Starting with the draw; Agrillo playing insane on offense; and defensive stops. We wanted this game more. Having such a small team makes wins like this so much more rewarding.”

Huntington is waiting now for the county seeding meeting. The first playoff games will be played on Tuesday with the full bracket in motion next Friday.