One of the major inlets off the northern shore of Long Island is called Cold Spring Harbor. Fittingly, a kilometer away from the water this morning, the town’s high school will feature the latest girls’ lacrosse meeting of 20 top teams from four states in the annual Gains for Brains Showcase.
The showcase is made up of two quintupleheaders, each on adjacent grounds south of the high school:
10 a.m., Upper Field — Bayport-Blue Point (N.Y.) vs. Darien (Conn.)
11 a.m., Lower Field — South Huntingdon St. Anthony’s (N.Y.) vs. Nyack (N.Y.)
12 noon, Upper Field — Hempstead Sacred Heart (N.Y.) vs. Morristown (N.J.)
1 p.m., Lower Field — Manhasset (N.Y.) vs. Chatham (N.J.)
2 p.m., Upper Field — Huntington (N.Y.) vs. Ridgewood (N.J.)
3 p.m., Lower Field — Garden City (N.Y.) vs. Suffern (N.Y.)
4 p.m., Upper Field — Port Washington (N.Y.) vs. Ridgefield (Conn.)
5 p.m., Lower Field — East Setauket Ward Melville (N.Y.) vs. Westfield (N.J.)
6 p.m., Upper Field — Massapequa (N.Y.) vs. New Canaan (Conn.)
7 p.m., Lower Field — Malvern Villa Maria (Pa.) at Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.)
Like the National High School Invitational, it is impossible to watch every single game at once, but you might wind up doing something like you might do during the NCAA basketball tournaments — commit yourself to watching the second halves of the games because that’s where the result is decided. Of course, this risks missing a key run or a key series of cards which may occur earlier in the game.
But if you want games to watch all the way through, I’ll give you three:
BBP vs. Darien: The Bayport-Blue Point Phantoms are 5-2 this season and have wins over Garden City and Mount Sinai already. They are the defending NYSPHSAA Class C champions. Darien is the Class LL state champions in Connecticut, and have been playing really good lacrosse this season. However, it has not been easy: the Blue Wave almost let a lead go last Sunday against Brooklandville St. Paul’s (Md.), but the play of captains Anna Von Kennel and Cameron Pokorny allowed Darien to get the road win.
St. Anthony’s vs. Nyack: St. Anthony’s has been the best girls’ scholastic program in the country in the decade of the 2020s thus far, with an oversized roster of players with outsized talent. However, the Friars have suffered a loss already this season in an overtime defeat to Darien. Nyack has never won a state title, but not for lack of trying. The Indians were undefeated heading into the state tournament, but dropped its tournament opener against Bayport-Blue Point.
Villa Maria vs. CHS: Cold Spring Harbor is 7-2 on the season, with key road win at Massapequa earlier this week. Villa Maria is 8-2 this season, and has scored 20 goals four times already. The Hurricanes, with a handful of players who lost to Emmaus (Pa.) in overtime of the state Class AAA field hockey tournament last fall, are the defending girls’ lacrosse champions in Class AA.
Enjoy the games. Again, this is an event every much the equal of the best in-season tournaments in other sports, and it deserves your attention and support.