Saturday, June 21, 2025
Not only has Clarke girls’ lacrosse program picked up where it left off last season when it earned 10 victories, the Rams have stepped it up a notch with a roster keyed by seniors and featuring a wealth of talented juniors and sophomores.
Clarke closed the regular season May 8 with a runaway victory at Hempstead, giving it a dozen wins overall and nine in its last 10 games following back-to-back one-goal defeats to Wheatley and Island Trees.
“I thought the girls responded to those losses extremely well,” longtime coach Rick Aragona said. “The level of improvement in each kid has been noticeable over the course of the season. It’s great to see. We’ve become a more aggressive team and deep, rotating just about everyone in.”
One of eight seniors, attacker Valentina Kesabian earned All-Conference honors last spring after she helped lead the program’s rise with 26 goals. This year she’s netted 39 and dished out 14 assists, serving as a catalyst for an offense that’s getting lots of scoring from the midfield. “She’s grown tremendously,” Aragona said.
“We have great teamwork and a lot of the girls are playing travel lacrosse,” said Kesabian, who’s had eight games with at least five points including a season-high seven (5 goals, 2 assists) in a 13-9 win over Malverne/East Rockaway April 2. “It’s exciting. We’ve been building confidence with every game.”
Another playmaker up top is senior Demi Mah Lee, one of the bigger surprises who’s scored 11 goals and handed out 8 assists. Keeping with the veteran theme on attack, seniors Sophia Sfozra and Karli Rubenstein have also contributed.
An area where the Rams have outlasted opponents is midfield. Junior Gianna Riccobono, a captain, has been a consistent weapon with 30 goals, four of which came May 2 in a setback to Division. She also has nine other multi-goal games. “She’s shown a progression of improvement over the years and has really come into her own,” Aragona said.
Junior middie Mia Lucas has been a force at both ends of the field, Aragona said, and particularly in the opposing zone and she’s found the back of the net 23 times. Sophomore middie/attacker Ayla Abate, who had 15 goals last spring, has 18 and leads the team in assists with 19, and juniors Erin Frank and Madison DeLeon have 14 and 11 goals, respectively. “Ayla is taking draws and coming up with them more often than not,” said Aragona, who is assisted by Nicole Rizzo. “Her success has been huge for us.”
Frank, who has taken her stick stills to another level, scored in overtime to beat West Hempstead, 11-10, March 31. Frank, Riccobono and sophomore Katerina Rivera are the fastest kids the program has had in quite some time, the coach said.
Senior Lauren Foley tops the depth chart at goaltender and has been solid in totaling 85 saves. “Lauren knows the game and is playing very well,” Aragona said. Junior Rebekah McGrady is the primary backup and has 20 stops, and junior Sofia Zito has also chipped in.
The defenders are thriving not only on the back end but also in transition, said Aragona, citing the efforts of senior Chaeeun Kim, juniors Rebecca Palumbo and Ava Ruperto, sophomore Julia Cardozo, and freshman Victoria Ruperto.
The Rams (12-3) scored double digits in goals in all but two games and got additional contributions from seniors Sophia Faude and Rosana DeStefano, juniors Eva Reyes, Giovanna Palmeri, Diana Velez, Isabella Hirsh, Kayla Gismondi, Melina Pagiatis and Arianna Rincon, and sophomore Cat Hopkins.
