Thursday, October 1, 2026
When Leigh-Ann Zimmer and her sister Megan Protano stepped down as Massapequa girls lacrosse coaches in 2020 after 15 years at the helm, Zimmer didn’t expect to be back, certainly not this soon.
But the former Division I lacrosse standouts — Zimmer at Syracuse and Protano at Hofstra — have returned this spring, looking to continue building the Chiefs into a perennial powerhouse.
“Even from the time that I left, I always said that I genuinely missed it,” Zimmer said. "I left only because I do have three kids. My sister has two kids, so we only left just because of family, but we’re very excited to be back. We have a great group of girls, and we’re very excited to see what happens this season.”
A year removed from beating Port Washington to win the Nassau Class A championship before a close loss to Huntington in the Long Island championship, Massapequa returns a ton of talent.
That includes three senior captains in starting attackers, Savanna Appleton, Grace Hoffman, and Kali Humann. Appleton, a Clemson commit, is a tall, strong lefty; Johns Hopkins-bound Hoffman is a lefty feeder, and Humann, an LIU commit, works well off ball, all three complementing each other well.
“They’re doing a great job,” Zimmer said. “They definitely know what it takes to be successful, but at the same time, they want to get back to where they were last year and hopefully finish the job. It starts every single day in practice, and they’re setting that tempo when they step on the field.”
Anchoring the defense is a pair of sophomores in Keira Felker and Emma Ferguson in front of returning starting goalie Emily Fitzgerald, another sophomore.
Leading the way in the midfield will be juniors Olivia LoGiudice, a Stony Brook commit, and Binghamton-bound Natalie Byrns, as well as sophomore Ava Macri.
“Not only are we very talented, but we have a very nice group of girls,” Zimmer said. “That makes coaching a whole lot easier when you have girls who come to practice every single day, and they want to work for one another, and they have that energy that they're bringing, and they’re excited.”
To read more about the Massapequa Chiefs' 2026 boys lacrosse team, click here. To see more of the Herald’s 2026 Lacrosse Preview, click here.
