Blue Devils Topple Defending Champs to Win State Title

After defeating nine state ranked teams down the stretch of the season, the Huntington girls’ lacrosse team knew it would all mean nothing if the Blue Devils couldn’t master defending champion Penfield of Section V – Rochester in the Class A state finals on Saturday morning at Grady Field at SUNY Cortland.

While Huntington scored two of the game’s first three goals, the Blue Devils fell behind by halftime, 5-4. The team gathered around coach Meg Marinelli before players took turns addressing their teammates. They implored each other not to let this opportunity slip away and challenged one another to play even harder. One said, “second place does not exist,” highlighting the single-minded focus the group has had on winning.

“We really thought we were going to win,” senior captain Jolie Weinschreider confessed. “They capitalized off of our mistakes in the first half so we talked about cleaning up the little things and that’s what we did. We executed so well in the second half because of our fight and grit.”

Trailing 6-5 to Penfield (18-4) in the third period, Huntington’s comeback was once again mounted by its powerful and fast defense, including its exceptional goalie, sophomore Juliet Johnson. The Blue Devils limited the defending state champions to a single goal over the final 24 minutes of the game.

When sophomore Olivia Puccio (48g; 24a) converted a man-down goal to give the Blue Devils a three goal lead late in the game, Huntington sensed it was going to make history.

Olivia Puccio’s four goals and an assist led the Blue Devils. Weinschreider (55g; 25a) tallied three goals and Valentina Puccio (65g; 18a) notched one goal and an assist. Bridget Callery (18g; 12a) also scored and Grace Gordon (28g; 39a) added an assist. Johnson stopped six shots and kicked or deflected away countless others, including at near point blank range.

So many pieces came together for Huntington to win its first ever girls’ lacrosse state title. Valentina Puccio returning from Kellenberg was one of those essential building blocks.

“When I came back to Huntington, I definitely wasn’t thinking of winning a state championship,” Puccio said. “I was excited to play with my sister. But after winning counties and the Long Island championship last year, going into this year, I knew it was possible to win states.”

Practicing every afternoon at Alumni Field, the Blue Devils started to believe that they could beat anyone on any given day. As Huntington stormed through a schedule loaded with state ranked teams, that confidence only grew.

Decked out in their Nike navy blue uniforms, Huntington proved it belonged on the big stage. Toppling the defending state champions required a near perfect performance and the Blue Devils got it from a group of teenage girls who discovered firsthand that hard work does indeed pay off.

“Our attitude was built on trust,” said junior Ava McDonald, who played the best game of her career to this point. “We knew they were a gritty team and weren’t going to make anything easy, but all season long we’ve relied on each other and that wasn’t changing. We knew if we outworked them, stayed connected, and kept playing our game, we’d come out on top. Our coaches have done a great job all season preparing us for moments like that, and we knew if we trusted the game plan, played our game, and shut them down defensively, we were going to win. In the second half, we made some adjustments and understood that game was going to come down to who wanted it more. We’ve had it hard all season long, and because of that we knew nobody was going to outwork us. We worked too hard to get to this moment and there was no way anyone else was taking that plaque home besides us.”