Blue Devil Girls’ Lax Celebrates
Senior Day
The Huntington girls’ lacrosse team honored its eight seniors on Monday afternoon prior to its game against visiting West Babylon, celebrating the careers and contributions of a group of talented teenagers.
Hailey Bengston, Allison Berejka, Emma DeGennaro, Irina DeSimone Brianna McDonald, Taylor Moreno, Meghan Plant and Katie Reilly were recognized on Senior Day at Blue Devil Field.
Many of the teenagers have been playing together for years as they moved through the ranks of the Huntington Village Lacrosse Club and other youth programs and onto school teams. They will soon be heading off in different directions to attend college, but will always consider Huntington to be their home.
“Playing lacrosse for Huntington has had a huge impact on me,” said Moreno, who is headed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play goalie for the Tar Heels. “I’ve learned a lot about what it means to be a team player and how important it is to work for what you want even if I doesn’t come easily. I’ve become a stronger athlete mentally and physically and I feel like it has set me on a path to do great in college. The hardest part is going to be walking away from a group of teammates who I’ve come to love and appreciate. We started playing the sport together and it’s nice to know we’re ending our high school careers together. I’ll miss them more than anything and I wish all of them good luck in college.”
Blue Devil head coach Jessica Maggio spoke about each member of the group as the seniors and their teammates and family members listened. Assistant coach Beth Vogelsang presented each teenager with a bouquet of flowers.
“Playing lacrosse for Huntington has meant a lot to me,” said Ms. Berejka, who plans to attend Manhattan College and study marketing. “It’s been fun every season and I loved every minute of it! It will definitely be hard to walk away at the end of this season. I will miss playing lacrosse with all of the other seniors as I have played with them most of my career. I will also miss all of the underclassmen that I have gotten to know better because of lacrosse.”
The seniors and their parents walked to midfield under a canopy of lacrosse sticks held in the air by players standing in parallel lines. Blue and white balloons were tied to the railing across the front row of bleachers. Individual posters filled with photos commemorating the career of each senior were on display.
“Playing lacrosse for Huntington truly means the world to me,” said Bengston, who is headed to Syracuse University to play on the lacrosse team there. “The amount of heart and intensity that everyone plays with is amazing and hard to find. The Huntington program has trained kids since their first day to never give up and to have fun and I definitely think that you can see this training come into action when you see Huntington play. It will be really hard for me to walk away from my teammates at the end of the year. We all genuinely get along and love each other, which is rare to have on a team, especially with girls! Our team’s chemistry and our ability to always make each other laugh is something that I’m really going to miss.”
While one chapter is closing for the seniors another one is about to open. “I am really excited to play in college,” Bengston said. “Getting a chance to build new relationships and to step up my game to a level I’ve never experienced before is going to be amazing. But, I will never forget the Huntington lacrosse program and all of the memories I’ve made with it.”
The seniors were presented with tokens of appreciation contained in gift bags. There were tears shed as the teenagers and their parents sensed the transition from high school to college that is about to occur.
“I can honestly say that I’m going to miss these girls,” said Plant, who will be attending the University of Alabama where she plans to study education to prepare for a teaching career. “Most of them I’ve been playing with my whole life. Since kindergarten we have become more like sisters then teammates. This was my last year playing lacrosse ever and it’s been a great year. I’ve gotten so close with so many people and made some great memories. I’m going to miss it. Maybe I will play intramural lacrosse next year. We’ll see.”
The seniors were presented with flowers and they hugged each other and the underclassmen on the team and later posed for photo after photo. Splashed with sunlight on a warm afternoon sunlight, the teenagers reveled in the moment until it was time to take the field for the start of the game.
“Playing lacrosse at Huntington has meant so much to me,” said Reilly, who is headed to Princeton University where she will play on the Tigers’ lacrosse team. “It’s helped me create friendships that I will keep for many years to come. It has taught me how positivity within the team can lead to success and it has reminded me of how much I love lacrosse, taking me back to the days of HV LAX. Playing at Huntington has been an honor and I will definitely miss my teammates when I’m away at college. I’ve been with some of them since I started lacrosse in third grade.”
Parents said they are going to miss coming to games next year with more than one getting choked up while discussing it. Blue Devil lacrosse has been a big part of their lives, too.
“Playing for Huntington has meant a lot to me,” said DeGennaro, who is headed to Brown University where she will play lacrosse. “The friends and memories I have made over the past few years are irreplaceable and I am sad to be leaving this year. Although it is hard to walk away, I am thankful for everything and everyone I have experienced playing Huntington lacrosse.”
Letting go won’t be easy for the eight seniors who have been together for so long. They grew close to one another through trials and tribulations on and off the field.
“Although I’m not going to college to pursue my career as a lacrosse player, lacrosse will always and forever be a part of me,” said McDonald who will be attending Fairfield University to study for a nursing career. “It has shown me many life lessons and brought me close to a whole bunch of great girls who I am able to call my family. Huntington lacrosse instilled pride for my team, my town and for my own abilities. It is going to be hard to leave such an unbelievable program that is filled with a fantastic group of girls. I wouldn’t have wanted to share my senior year with any other team.”
The seniors are planning to pursue a wide range of college academic majors tailored to their personal interests and they go about preparing for various careers.
“Playing for Huntington has been a great experience for me,” said DeSimone who is headed to High Point University to play lacrosse. “I have met some amazing people and have made memories I will hold onto forever. The coaches and team have been extremely supportive throughout the years. I am definitely going to miss having such a large support system and I am going to miss my teammates the most. It’s crazy that we will all be going on our own next year. We have grown up with each other and are friends on and off the field. It will definitely be a big change not having them around next year. I am excited to see what they will accomplish and am glad to have had such amazing teammates and friends.”
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Huntington led West Babylon early, but by halftime found itself trailing 7-5. The Blue Devils went on to drop a 13-11 verdict. DeGennaro had four goals and two assists and Reilly added a goal and seven assists.
Emma Greenhill had one of her best games of the spring, tallying three goals and an assist. Sarah Agrillo continued her hot play with two goals. Ryann Gaffney had a goal and an assist.
Berejka stopped five shots in goal before yielding to Megan Bacik, who recorded five saves during her time between the pipes.