It was Senior Day at Island Trees High School, but the underclassmen stole the show on the lacrosse field.
Freshman phenom Emma Schait scored a career-high six goals and added four assists to lead Seaford, while juniors Bridget Vilbig (5 goals, 1 assist) and Emily Lucas (4 goals, 1 assist) set the tone for the Lady Dawgs.
Island Trees (3-6 league, 8-6 overall) struggled with the run-and-gun offense implemented by Seaford head coach Kurt Dankenbrink, and the spread attack led to eight different Lady Vikings finding the back of the net.
"A lot of our goals were assisted," said Dankenbrink. "We did a great job of passing the ball around and sharing. It was a nice team effort."
After missing the playoffs last year, the Lady Vikings' victory on Thursday has them primed to lock up the No. 3 seed in Nassau Conference C with two games left in the 2011 regular season.
Seaford (6-2 league, 10-3 overall) scored the game's first goal, as Amelia Taylor fired a shot past Island Trees goalie Stacy Riley just two minutes into the opening half.
The Lady Vikings found the back of the net 12 more times in the first stanza to take a 13-6 halftime lead, and then sealed the victory with a 5-0 run to open the second half.
Vilbig scored back-to-back goals with 14 minutes left in regulation, but Schait answered back to give the Lady Vikings a 21-9 edge with 29 seconds remaining.
The Lady Dawgs' five-game winning streak came to an end and the loss drops them to seventh place in the conference, one game behind Floral Park (4-4).
Key Stats:
- Schait rose to No. 16 in Nassau County with 47 goals.
- Taylor has tallied 67 points this season, including 32 goals.
- Vilbig ranks No. 21 in Nassau County with 44 goals.
- Lucas tallied 53 goals in her 2011 campaign.
Who's Next:
- Island Trees @ Clarke, Monday, 4:30 p.m.
- Seaford @ Locust Valley, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.
