On Friday, May 20, Mamaroneck’s girls’ lacrosse season came to an abrupt end in the quarterfinal round of the Section I playoffs, as the No. 3 seed Tigers fell to No. 6 Fox Lane 12-10 at home. Despite the disappointing loss, Mamaroneck coach Rocky Lividni is confident that her squad will be able to bounce back next year, now that it has another year of confidence under its belt.
Turnovers and missed shots doomed the Tigers, who at one point trailed the Foxes by six goals before rallying for a comeback late. Prior to the Tigers’ second-half run, Lividni called a timeout to urge her players to apply more pressure.
“I can’t say exactly what I said during the timeout, but it was really about picking it up and not going out like this for the seven seniors we have on the team,” she said. “And the girls fought hard, they kept on shooting right until the final whistle, so I’m proud of them.”
The Foxes were able to hold on, thanks in part to stellar efforts from Gianna New, who scored four goals, and Lindsay West and Alison Molky, who both had three goals and an assist.
Madeline Riordan led the way for Mamaroneck with three goals and an assist, while standout goalie Talia Land had six saves.
The Tigers, who lost to Fox Lane in an earlier this season in a contest that saw them take the field without several key contributors, came into Friday’s matchup brimming with confidence, the head coach said.
“We knew whoever we drew it was going to be a tough game,” Lividini said. “We really didn’t want to lose to the same team twice, and I think if it wasn’t for the turnovers, it would have been a much different game.”
Mamaroneck’s late surge, she added, was simply par for the course for a team that has shown resilience all year long. After losing four of their first five games to start the season, the Tigers reeled off 11 straight wins to nab the No. 3 seed in the competitive Class A bracket.
“We had a really tough start to the season,” Lividini said. “But we learned a lot about what we had to do to win these games.”
With seven seniors graduating, including Land, the 2017 Tigers will rely on some of the team’s younger stars who started to shine this year. Players like Riordan, Emily Mahland and Cassie Budill will be called upon to lead the squad as they look to find a way into the Class A semifinal round.
“It’s hard losing seven seniors, I know it’s tough for them, but they really helped build a great legacy here,” Lividini said. “But we’re still young, we have a lot of talent on the JV, and we’re going to try to do better next year.”
