Thursday, October 1, 2026
Like a trip to the optometrist, the Carey girls lacrosse team is opening eyes throughout Nassau County.
After winning just one conference game a year ago, the Seahawks were picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in Conference III.
Instead, Carey is seventh with a 4-4 record (4-7 overall) and has a chance to earn a spot in the postseason. With four games remaining, the Seahawks are playing meaningful late regular-season games, which is a testament to the team’s never-say-die attitude.
That was on full display in a must-win game against Plainview-JFK on April 21. In a back-and-forth affair, the Hawks tied the game in the waning seconds of regulation.
Instead of wilting from Plainview JFK’s momentum boost, the Seahawks kept their composure. They needed a few huge overtime saves by goalie Megan Heinimann and big wins from Sophia Faraone at the draw circle before Lila Klupt scored the double-OT winner with her off-hand while drawing contact, to secure the 11-10 win.
“They didn’t quit, and that was good,” Carey coach Paul Luzzi said. “We made some mistakes that I thought were going to be costly. But we were able to find a way to win in that game, which was pretty awesome because that was a big win for us. Their intensity and their will not to quit were most impressive in that game.”
Making some of the biggest contributions were some of the youngest Seahawks. Klupt, who had four goals, is a freshman. Faraone, who also had two goals and five assists, is in eighth grade.
And although she’s a senior, Heinimann, who made 12 saves overall, is in her first year in goal. The converted defender stepped into the cage when the team’s previous two goalies left early in the season.
In that win, senior Kate McGrath had a hat trick, and senior Emma Montemarano and junior Olivia Vogt added one goal apiece.
“The future is looking pretty bright right now. We’re probably overachieving a little bit this year, which is nice, but I knew we were going to have some good young players,” Luzzi said. “I wasn’t sure what kind of step they would take this season, but they’re proving that they belong, and they’re getting better and better as the season goes on, which is nice to see.”
That win came on the heels of consecutive losses to East Meadow and New Hyde Park. In another game with playoff implications, the Seahawks lost at Kennedy last Friday, 16-4.
It was the first lopsided conference defeat all season.
“If we can clean some things up and get a little sharper, I'm sure every team could say the same, but I think a couple of games could have gone our way had we just been a little cleaner and we understood the situation,” Luzzi said.
Senior Adrianna Cinelli has excelled as the backer of the Seahawks zone, routinely the best athlete on the field, while freshman Olivia Wilde, who had three goals and one assist in the 9-7 loss to New Hyde Park, has provided a lot of the intangibles in the middle of the field.
