Northport Girls Lacrosse Blasts Nationally-Ranked Foe

The season is still young, but the Northport girls lacrosse team made a powerful statement Wednesday. 

The Tigers beat visiting Good Counsel (Olney, Md.), 13-5, in a showdown of Top 25 teams.

With Notre Dame-bound attack Cortney Fortunato, the nation’s top recruit, face guarded for much of the afternoon, Northport (3-0) proved it’s no one-dimensional offense. 

"We tried to play disciplined," Northport Coach Carol Rainson-Rose said. "We held the ball for three minutes and one shot [to end the half]. We couldn't even do that last year." 

Related: Game Photos

Junior Allie Pavinelli, a Florida commit, had 5 goals and 3 assists while Stony Brook recruit Dorrien Van Dyke added 4 goals to power the Tigers.

"I think we moved the ball well and we were not going to let them beat us," Pavinelli said. "It's about going hard to the goal."

Northport led 3-1 on Fortunato’s blast from the right side (she had 3 goals and an assist) with 17:11 left in the opening half and never looked back. The Tigers extended the lead to 12-4 with five straight goals to open the second half.

Kristen Brunoforte had 5 saves for the Tigers.

Good Counsel (3-1), No. 14 in the Nike/U.S. Lacrosse National High School Girls Top 25, beat Northport in 2011. It was one of two losses the Tigers suffered in a season that ended with the program’s first state Class A championship. 

Fortunato and her teammates had 2011 on their minds. They wanted to avenge the loss to the Maryland powerhouse and they hoped to regain their championship form after and early exit in the Suffolk playoffs a year ago.

"We played this team two years ago," said Fortunato, who has 16 goals in three games. "It's exciting. It was revenge." 

After a 3-0 start, consider the 12th-ranked Tigers on the path toward redemption.

See game photos Thursday.

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