Long Beach building momentum

Barring a major upset along the way, Nassau’s only two Class B girls’ lacrosse teams in the top ability-based conference will meet May 31 at Adelphi University to decide the county championship.

Long Beach has developed into a perennial contender under coach Rachel Ray and continues to chase its first-ever title. It came one step away in 2017, falling to Garden City. The Marines have reached the semifinals in three playoff seasons since their run to the finals and are eyeing the big prize this spring.

Ray said a 7-6 loss to the Trojans, who have captured three of the last five Nassau Class B crowns, in the opener March 29 was encouraging. “It was an evenly matched game and we had two possessions in the last minute to send it to overtime,” Ray explained. “There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think about how we can get better and over the top if we play them again.”

Dynamic junior Delaney Radin had a hat trick and two assists in the opener to lead Long Beach’s offense. Senior Sarah Gusler made 11 saves. “We have to value the ball a little better and we’re starting to figure that out lately,” Ray said. “We’ve put together some big offensive games and the girls are beginning to realize we can be a team that scores a lot of goals.”

Each of the Marines’ first five games out of the gate came against either a defending county champion or county runner-up from 2021. They emerged from the stretch 0-5 and yielded no less than a dozen goals to Manhasset, Cold Spring Harbor, South Side and Wantagh.

“Our spirits were a little down, but we played hard until the last second every game and spread out the scoring,” Ray said. “We’re finally feeling good now after three straight wins and we can really use a conference victory to keep things rolling.”

Long Beach (3-5 overall) got in the win column for the first time this spring April 14, beating Locust Valley at home 11-10. Radin had 4 goals and 4 assists, and junior Keira Bauer and sophomore Ava Main chipped in a pair of goals apiece. Gusler and sophomore goalie Emily Backlin combined for 7 saves.

“We had to fight for it and it was a win that we really needed,” Ray said.

The Marines kept moving in a positive direction five days later with a 13-8 victory over visiting Port Washington. Radin had 8 more points, including 5 goals, Main added a hat trick and two assists, and senior Leah Chasin scored twice. Radin’s 11 points highlighted a 19-3 win over East Meadow on April 21.

“The pressure is on Delaney for sure because she’s getting all the attention from defenses,” Ray said of Radin. “She makes everyone around her better and we’re doing a nice job of sharing the ball.”

Seniors Cate Miller, Morgan McCaffrey, Ali Kile and Meg Farrell are leading the way defensively. “We’re starting to turn some D stops into goals at the other end,” Ray said. “Once we make that connection more consistently we’ll be that much stronger.”