Both the North Shore and Manhasset girls lacrosse teams were on a collision course throughout the Nassau County playoffs this spring.
North Shore (16-3) was the overall No.1 seed in Class C bracket, and survived a triple overtime scare in the semifinals to advance to the championship game. They were led by the incomparable Kylee Colbert, maybe the best player on Long Island, bound for college power Boston College, who scored a ridiculous 101 goals on the season.
Waiting for them, as expected, was Manhasset, which struggled with injuries and inconsistency during the regular season, but as usual got it together when it counted. The defending state champs, and four-time defending county champs, have a multitude of Division I signees and oral commitments on the squad as usual.
The third-seeded Indians rolled to the championship game behind Duke-bound Caitlin Barrett and future Vanderbilt attack Shea Panzik, winning two games by large margins.
And in the Class B championship game, North Shore and Manhasset put on a classic. The Vikings trailed briefly at the start but then lead nearly the entire game, as Colbert (7 goals) was unstoppable. When North Shore took a 12-9 lead with 8:30 left on Colbert’s final goal of the night, the Vikings fans were going crazy in the stands, and it looked like the Indians’ streaks were about to end.
Except, they didn’t. Manhasset took advantage of some North Shore mistakes and staged an improbable rally, scoring three goals in the final 5:48, including a Barrett goal with eight seconds left, to tie and force overtime.
Then in OT, Holly Newman scored the game-winner, and Manhasset survived to fight another day.
In the Long Island championship game against Bayport-Blue Point on June 4, Manhasset hung close to the undefeated Phantoms but ended up losing a 9-6 decision.
Other girls teams who did well included Port Washington, which advanced to the Class A semis before losing to top-seeded Massapequa. Both Roslyn and New Hyde Park reached the postseason but fell in quarterfinal action.
