Sports

Ward Melville Teams Advance in County Playoffs

Girls' soccer, girls' volleyball and field hockey each find themselves inching closer to county championships.

Three girls' teams at Ward Melville High School advanced this past week in the playoffs. If the third-ranked volleyball team can top No. 2 Lindenhurst on Tuesday, it will reach the county championship game for the second year in a row. The girls' soccer team has the chance to take the Class AA county championship.

And the third-seeded field hockey team – perennially one of Ward Melville's flagship teams – needs to get past No. 2 Smithtown East on Monday in order to reach the Class A county championship game.

"It's definitely going to be very competitive," field hockey coach Shannon Watson said in an interview Sunday. "If we can just take away the pressure of the playoff mentality and just play the game we love, it will help [us] play our best."

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The names you oftentimes hear in connection with the goals scored and assists logged – like Kim Geiger, Kelsey Catalano, Vanessa Pryor – are only part of the story.

Watson pointed to junior forward Liz Conley and junior goalie André Bongiorno as two of the team's unsung heroes who have really begun to shine in the past few games.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Playoffs are a whole new season," Watson said. "The best of the best are out there. It's a whole new playing field out there."

How They Got There

Field hockey: Kim Geiger and Vanessa Pryor each scored to lead Ward Melville over East Islip on Nov. 2.


1
2
OT
Final
No. 3 Ward Melville (13-4)
1
0
1
2
No. 6 East Islip (14-4)
0
1
0
1

Girls' soccer: The top-seeded Patriots (14-1-2) will play No. 2 Northport on Wednesday at Dowling College at 6:30 p.m. after beating West Islip on Saturday.

1 2 Final No. 1 Ward Melville 1 2 3 No. 4 West Islip 0 0 0

Girls' volleyball: The third-ranked Patriots (14-3) advanced with a 3-0 win over Smithtown West on Friday. They will visit No. 2 Lindenhurst on Tuesday in a county AA semifinal, a rematch of the 2010 county championships from which Lindenhurst emerged victorious.

1 2 3 Final No. 3 Ward Melville 25 25 25 3 No. 11 Smithtown West 16 9 11 0


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here