Michael Giordano had some difficult choices to make at the start of the season, but those decisions paid off.
The Midwood girl’s lacrosse coach had too many quality offensive players and couldn’t use all of them to score the ball. The second-year headman chose to put seniors Naillenla Haris and Daniela Qyteza and junior Monica Riskevich on attack, and kept seniors Maya Snagg and Elzaya Sangadzhiev on defense.
The move helped Midwood to its best regular season in program history, with an 11–2 record and wins over Public School Athletic League powers Tottenville and Curtis for the first time in the same season. Nonetheless, the fifth-seeded Hornets again ended a game short of reaching the final, after falling 16–8 to top-seeded Tottenville last Thursday.
“This year, it’s really pick your poison,” Giordano said. “I would really hate to coach against Midwood because there are goal scorers all over the field. There are just not enough offensive positions to put my goal scorers.”
Haris, Qyteza and Riskevich were one of the league’s best offensive units. Haris finished among the league leaders with 51 goals. Riskevich is one of the top playmakers with 27 goals and 23 assists, and Qyteza has chipped in 24 goals and 13 assists. Midwood’s top scorer from last season, Janae Headly, found the back of the net just 26 times last year.
“Any one of my girls can be one of the league’s most dangerous attackers,” Giordano said.
Haris and Riskevich developed a great chemistry together on the field. One often finds the other with a quick pass heading to the net for a goal. Giordano calls Riskevich the point guard of his team and refers to her as “Jason Kidd.”
“I think it’s the way me and Nelly see the field and see the same game plan.” Riskevich said. “I always come to her and we are always on the same page.”
Haris believes the same camaraderie flowed throughout the team, which led to this year’s successful season.
“We have more chemistry,” she said. “Last year we lacked that. We are friends this year. We work hard.”
As Haris, Riskevich and Qyteza powered the offense, Snagg and Sangadzhiev on the other end of the field turned into two of the league’s best defenders. They and Tiffany Sanabia combined to hold Hunter star Lindsey Tarpinian to just one goal in a 14–8 first-round playoff victory last Tuesday on Randall’s Island. Senior Miriam Avrutin also chipped in on defense.
“The experience on the team knows how to handle that,” Giordano said of controlling a team’s top scorer. “We’ve practiced that. We’ve drilled that. It’s great to see the girls transfer that lesson and the practices into game day.”
It was also fun for him to watch his preseason choices translate into wins.
