Field hockey has wrapped up the regular season, and the Suffolk County playoffs officially began on Tuesday. For Harborfields, they’re looking to rip through Long Island like a tornado…
The Harborfields field hockey team is a member of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) and competes in DIV II. The Tornadoes are led by sixteen-year head coach Lauren Desiderio. She’s joined by assistant coach Briana Rubenstein.
The Tornadoes had themselves a solid regular season, posting a 14-2-0 record. Their only losses on the season came against Shoreham-Wading River and Bayport-Blue Point. Aside from that, their offense was brewing up a storm as they outscored their opponents 65-12 with eight shutouts to go along with it.
“We graduated 12 seniors [last year], so we had a lot of holes to fill, a lot of eager underclassmen, and a great returning senior class that really built great team camaraderie. They work well together, and we have great leadership. They take accountability and responsibility, they come to practice to work hard every day, and I think that really has made the difference in why we’ve been able to be so successful this season.
Harborfields has won the Suffolk County Championship twice in its history, in 2021 and 2024. The playoff brackets for Suffolk County have been set, and the Tornadoes will compete in the Class B bracket. Their first opponent was fellow DIV II member, Comsewogue. The two teams met once in the regular season and the Tornadoes took home the ‘W’ with a 3-1 score. They have played each other consistently each season, and for the last five years, Harborfields has emerged victorious with decisive wins.
The Messenger spoke with coach Desiderio prior to the matchup against Comsewogue to get her thoughts about the playoff game.
“Comsewogue has a fantastic goalie in Grace Peyman, and this is the first time in quite a while for Comsewogue to make the playoffs. You know that they are super pumped and super excited to take us down as the returning county champs. We just have to stay focused and play our game, and create scoring opportunities. If we play our game, then it will hopefully go our way, but we expect to have a really competitive game tomorrow,” said Desiderio.
The squad is led by nine seniors: Talia Steinberg, Morgan O’Brien, Reese Nitekman, Erin Lindkvist, Caroline Gilhuley, Juliet Gianfrancesco, Joceyln Frein, Mackenzie Doig, and Sarah Blitz.
“We have four captains, three of whom are returning starters, and another earned a starting spot. Some of our other seniors, their experience last year on the varsity team really allowed them to step onto the field and take on starting roles. Morgan O’Brien’s a first year starter as our center forward, and she has done an incredible job there. Whether she’s assisting her teammates, coming up with tackles, she’s been great. We’ve had a new senior goalie [Mackenzie Doig], it’s her first year as our starter, and she’s risen to the occasion. People who have come off the bench to fill in either starting spots because of injuries or just be great subs. I can’t say enough about the senior class. They’re wonderful examples. Because they work so hard, the underclassmen want to do their best to make sure that this season goes as long as possible for this special group,” Desiderio told The Messenger.
Gilhuley and O’Brien are top-30 in scoring for Suffolk County this season as they’ve notched 13g-1a and 5g-11a, respectively. She’s not a senior, but she’s also on the list; Emma Glick has 8g-7a as a freshman.
“I think that’s why we’ve been so successful, we don’t have just one or two go-to players, like we did last season. You never really know who’s going to put the ball in the net and who’s going to step up. Going from our freshman forward Emma Glick, first year on varsity, immediate impact player and starter, to having some of the experienced players like Caroline Gilhey, Morgan O’Brien, and other underclassmen. We’ve had a lot of different people score and assist, and that makes us a very dangerous team because you can’t just mark one of them out. You really have to try to defeat our entire team, not just one or two players on the field,” said Desiderio.
