Hewlett making some strides

A return trip to the Nassau girls’ lacrosse playoffs is guaranteed for Hewlett, and coach Pat Gormley is pleased with the progress the young Lady Bulldogs have made this spring.

“We’ve made some encouraging progress,” Gormley said. “We have a lot of young talent. The key to picking up next year where we leave off this year is getting the girls to play as much as possible during the offseason.

“As of now, there’s no foundation as far as offseason participation goes,” he added. “A few girls play club. Not everyone has to, but even if some get together a few times a week and work on catching and throwing, it’ll help.”

Hewlett, sidetracked early by a season-ending injury to junior standout Samantha DiSalvo, dipped to 3-8 overall and 1-5 in Conference II after falling to conference co-leader Locust Valley last Saturday despite four more goals from junior Emily Cohen. The Lady Falcons, who remained undefeated in conference play, got six goals from Taylor Bleistein in a 15-7 victory.

“We’ve faced some very good teams,” Gormley said. “We hung with Locust Valley in the first half, but they held us down in the second half. Turnovers cost us.”

The Lady Bulldogs trailed 8-5 at halftime but were outscored 7-2 over the final 25 minutes. Cohen upped her goal total to a team-high 41, while senior Val DeNapoli scored her 34th and 35th goals. Senior Gabby Casanova also found the net.

Casanova, who this spring traded in her softball bat and glove for a lacrosse stick, ranks third on the team in goals with nine and third in points with 15. “She’s been a real help and is looking to play in college now,” Gormley said. “I wish we had her for more than this year. She’s very athletic and has pretty good field awareness.”

Eighth-grader Kristen DeCicco is one of many underclassmen to impress the coach. She leads the Lady Bulldogs with 10 assists and enjoyed her best varsity game so far April 16 with two goals and two assists in a tough 13-12 loss to Friends Academy. Earlier in the year, DeCicco tied a school single-game record with five assists. “She may have been a little nervous at the beginning of the season playing against older kids, but it didn’t take long for her to crack the starting lineup,” said Gormley, who noted freshman Olivia Epstein is having a fine year and eighth-graders Erin Schechter and Nina Squicciarini are contributing on defense.

But Cohen and DeNapoli have carried the Lady Bulldogs. They each scored six goals in a 15-8 win over Mepham on April 26 and have thrived under pressure, Gormley said. “With Sam being injured, Emily and Val felt a lot of pressure to lead the offense,” he said. “They went from being 25 percent of the offense last year to 90 percent this year.”