A big second-half outburst lifted Freeport to an 11-5 victory at Great Neck South last Monday in a Nassau Conference V girls’ lacrosse matchup, giving the Lady Red Devils as many wins — six — than their previous three seasons combined.
Seniors Lenox Pinczehelyi and Hayley Matthews had four goals apiece and goaltenders Nancy Yanes (11) and Perla De La Cruz combined for 19 saves as Freeport won for the third time in four games and improved to 6-5 overall. Junior Sheilly Duque added two goals and one assists for the Lady Red Devils, who scored seven goals in the second half to pull away after leading by one at intermission.
“We lost 10 seniors from last year’s team but we dropped one conference and are competing against teams at the same level,” second-year coach and Freeport alum Anabel Lopez said. “We’re building up the confidence and team unity. The season has flown by.”
Both Lopez, a 2008 grad, and assistant Michelle Rendon, a 2007 grad, played for the Lady Red Devils as well as at the college level. “We want to get the program back to the level it was when we played here,” Lopez noted. “We’re so invested.”
The win at Great Neck North’s was Freeport’s fifth of eight consecutive road games to close the season. “We started sluggish, but I called a quick timeout to let them know we only have a few games left and they need to give it their all,” Lopez said. “We took over in the second half. They did a great job sharing the ball and were strong on draw controls.”