Middle School Notebook: Title “Portledge Girls’ Soccer Eyes”

When championships become an expectation, it’s time to strive for more. The Portledge women’s soccer team is aiming for a new level of greatness.

The Panthers have already advanced further than any other team in program history after winning two games at the NYSAIS tournament last week. Portledge, the sixth seed in the tournament, advances to its first NYSAIS semifinal in program history and will play second-seeded Poly Prep on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

Portledge also won its fifth consecutive PSAA girls soccer championship with a 2-0 victory over Stony Brook on Oct. 22.

“Obviously at the beginning of the season we wanted to win the PSAA,” senior goalie Maddie Jello said. “That’s been part of the process, but it’s the states that we really want to win. We have a desire to win states this year. “We really want to continue to build the program and that’s why we want to have a state championship this year.”

Jello, who is committed to play at Colgate, is entering her fourth varsity season at Portland. She could quickly tell that this year’s team, which currently sits at 18-1-1, is different from other league championship teams.

“We’re really resilient this year,” Jello said.

Melina Von Toussaint has nine goals and six assists, Stephanie Ahi has nine goals and three assists and Everly Daniels has six goals and 13 assists to keep the offense paced.

Coach Phil Hills said the program has scheduled more challenging non-league games over the past few seasons to put its best foot forward in the NYSAIS tournament.

“Before, when we played well (teams), all we wanted to do was be in the game and hang in there,” Hills said. “We are athletic, we are aggressive, we have some good players, but we are a strong team.”

Hills credited the alumni and senior players for changing the culture. He’s excited about the young talent he believes will continue to grow the program.

“We want to make history for the school,” Jello said.

This has already been achieved. And on Monday, Portledge looks set to earn even more.

— Owen O’Brien

Fagan of the Ward Melville men’s volleyball team achieved a monumental feat

Kyle Fagan already had a long list of accomplishments on the volleyball court.

He added to that on Oct. 24 when he became the first Ward Melville player to reach 1,000 career kills in a 3-1 win over Bay Shore.

Penn State entered the match 26 kills away from the set point and reached that mark in the Patriots’ 32-30 win in the third set. Fagan has 34 kills.

“He’s easily at the top of the program,” coach Brian O’Shaughnessy said. “We don’t have a lot of kids playing at a Division I school, so the fact that he goes to a reputable volleyball school means a lot. Penn State is like going to Duke or UNC for basketball.”

Fagan joins Eastport-South Manor’s Aiden DesLauriers, a member of the Loyola Chicago team who reached 1,000 kills in September.

“1,000 murders by boys is not that common,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Few are on the level of Kyle from Aiden.”

After the Patriots captured their first Long Island title last season, Fagan and top-seeded Ward Melville have their sights set on another state tournament appearance.

— Matt Lindsey

Northport boys and girls continue to run strong in cross country

Northport is a treadmill factory. Since 2009, her girls’ cross-country team has won seven Suffolk team championships and the boys’ six, with both teams winning it in the same year in 2012, 2013, 2021 and 2022. the boys just snapped a streak of four straight games last year.

The teams’ winning ways continued into last regular season, with both teams finishing 5-0 and winning Suffolk League Four. On Saturday, October 26, both teams also won their Suffolk division championships. With county championships and state qualifiers scheduled for this Wednesday, both teams will be looking to continue the Northport tradition and make their way to the county title and a berth at the state championships.

The girls are coached by Gregg Cantwell and the boys follow Jason Strom’s lead. Building a team of runners together helped them form a strong bond.

“Jason is one of my good friends and we have similar ideas for teaching kids,” Cantwell said. “It’s just nice to have 14 kids that we see working hard every day get on the bus with us and go upstate to compete at states. We did it a couple of times together.”

Strom credits the school’s cross country success story to the entire community.

“As they often say, it takes a village to raise a child, or in this case, raise a team,” Strom said. “It all starts with the youth running programs we have in Northport. Children race in Cow Harbour. When they get to high school, the athletic department takes good care of them.”

— Michael Anderson