Seaford battling down the stretch

A two-goal setback to Lynbrook last Friday ended a dramatic eight-day stretch for the Seaford girls’ lacrosse team as it heads into the home stretch of the regular season.

Seaford fell 14-12 to the Lady Owls six days after a 10-9 win at Carle Place on April 22. The Lady Vikings began the stretch of close games with a 10-9 heartbreaker to Calhoun on April 20. All but one of Seaford’s games this season has been decided by three goals or less.

“The kids knew this year that every game was going to be close and competitive,” said 19th-year head coach Kurt Dankenbrink. “You learn from good competitive games.”

The strong showing against Lynbrook gives Seaford confidence heading toward the Class C playoffs. Lynbrook moved to Class C from Class B this season and is in second place in Conference II behind only unbeaten South Side.

Seaford (6-4) showed resiliency in the Carle Place victory rallying from a 9-7 deficit late in the second half to score the game’s final three goals. Junior attacker Jaclyn Grzelaczyk tallied the game-winner with one-minute left off a free position pass from Aly Palermo. Grzelaczyk, an NYIT commit, finished the day with three goal and three assists.

“She has size and quick hands,” Dankenbrink said of Grzelaczyk. “It’s very hard to defend her.”

Palermo finished the Carle Place game with two goals and one assist before tallying five scores in the loss to Lynbrook. The Northwestern-bound Palermo, who co-captains the team with fellow senior Kaitlyn Meyer, entered the week with 36 goals despite drawing face guards from opposing defenses throughout the season.

“She is just unbelievable,” Dankenbrink said of Palermo. “She is getting face guarded a lot.”

Goalie Jessica Strong recorded 10 saves in the Lynbrook game and has shown strong play in net during her senior campaign. She leads a defense in back of starting defenders Melanie Cascio, Julia Siler, Lili Kolodinsky and Meyer. Seaford held opponents to 10 goals or less for six straight games leading into the Lynbrook loss.

“Any time you can hold teams to 10 goals or under you are doing a solid job,” Dankenbrink said. “There are veterans back there who are very athletic.”

Seaford travels to Oceanside on May 3 and then closes the regular season conference schedule at home next Monday in a backyard battle against MacArthur at 4:30 p.m.

Seaford enters the last two games at 3-4 in a challenging Conference-II and is looking at placing anywhere from a six to a nine seed in the upcoming Class C playoffs. The Lady Vikings, who reached the semifinals last year, will face stiffer competition in the 2017 postseason with the additions of Wantagh, Plainedge and Lynbrook from Class B.

Dankenbrink is looking for his squad to finish the regular season strong and for the veteran players to bring their A game when it matters most. “We’re going to rely a lot on the seniors,” he said. “They need to raise their level.”