8 Honored During Blue Devils Senior Day

The Huntington girls lax team's eight seniors are honored Monday on Senior Day. Photo/Huntington School District

The Huntington girls lacrosse team honored its eight seniors on Monday afternoon prior to its game against visiting West Babylon, celebrating the careers and contributions of a group of talented teenagers.

Hailey Bengston, Allison Berejka, Emma DeGennaro, Irina DeSimone Brianna McDonald, Taylor Moreno, Meghan Plant and Katie Reilly were recognized on senior day at Blue Devil field.

Huntington led West Babylon early, but by halftime found itself trailing 7-5. The Blue Devils went on to drop a 13-11 verdict. DeGennaro had four goals and two assists and Reilly added a goal and seven assists.

Emma Greenhill had one of her best games of the spring, tallying three goals and an assist. Sarah Agrillo continued her hot play with two goals. Ryann Gaffney had a goal and an assist.

Berejka stopped five shots in goal before yielding to Megan Bacik, who recorded five saves during her time between the pipes.

Many of the Huntington’s seniors have been playing together for years as they moved through the ranks of the Huntington Village Lacrosse Club and other youth programs and onto school teams. They will soon be heading off in different directions to attend college, but will always consider Huntington to be their home.

“Playing lacrosse for Huntington has had a huge impact on me,” said Moreno, who is headed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to play goalie for the Tar Heels. “I’ve learned a lot about what it means to be a team player and how important it is to work for what you want even if I doesn’t come easily.”

Blue Devil head coach Jessica Maggio spoke about each member of the group as the seniors and their teammates and family members listened. Assistant coach Beth Vogelsang presented each teenager with a bouquet of flowers.

Before the game, the seniors and their parents walked to midfield under a canopy of lacrosse sticks held in the air by players standing in parallel lines. Blue and white balloons were tied to the railing across the front row of bleachers. Individual posters filled with photos commemorating the career of each senior were on display.

The seniors were presented with tokens of appreciation contained in gift bags and flowers.

The seniors are planning to pursue a wide range of college academic majors tailored to their personal interests and they go about preparing for various careers.

Bengston will head to Syracuse University to play lacrosse; Berejka will attend Manhattan College to study marketing; DeGennaro, will play lacrosse for Brown University; DeSimone will do the same at High Point University; McDoland will be attending Fairfield University to study for a career in nursing; Plan will head to University of Alabama to study education; and Reilly is headed to Princeton University where she will play on the Tigers’ lacrosse team.