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06/12/2021 12:00 AMBernie Pellegrino enjoyed his first season as head coach of the North Haven girls’ lacrosse team. Although North Haven didn’t fare quite as well in the win-loss column as he had hoped, Pellegrino was happy to see his athletes stay the course and give everything they had throughout the campaign—and even happier that they saw their persistence pay off with a late-season victory.
Pellegrino was named North Haven’s head coach following the 2019 season and would have coached the team last year had the campaign not been canceled. After coaching many of North Haven’s players in the Dream League last summer, Pellegrino got his chance to lead the high school team onto the field this spring and thoroughly appreciated that opportunity.
“It was great. We have a good staff and a good group of kids. The first year was enjoyable for me. The kids and I got along, and we worked well together,” said Pellegrino. “It was challenging with some of the protocols for COVID, but we played every one of our games on time and, an in all, it was a good season and I enjoyed the experience.”
As a member of the SCC’s Division I ranks, North Haven faced a challenging schedule and took losses against some of the elite teams in the conference on its to finishing with a record of 1-14. Coach Pellegrino’s team was still searching for its first win entering the last week of the season. On May 17, North Haven notched that victory by earning an 8-5 home win over a solid Morgan squad that qualified for the Shoreline Conference Tournament and also made states this year.
“It was good to get that win. We put it all together against Morgan and to get the W was great for the team, especially our seniors who waited over two years to be on the winning side of a game,” Pellegrino said. “This was a group of seniors that never gave up—not for one game, not for one minute. Things didn’t go our way in many of our games, but they always bounced back and gave it their best in the next game, and our younger kids benefited from that example.”
North Haven featured its biggest senior class in team history with 16 seniors on the roster this season. North Haven was led three senior captains in Zaina Gebril and fellow defender Mackenzie White, along with attacker Mariella Biceglia. The team’s senior class also featured attackers Adrianna Corniello, Isabella DeFelice, Arianna DePaola, Gianna Mastroianni, and Taylor Quinn; midfielders Kaitlyn Freeman, Emily Orth, and Sophia Papa; and defenders Hailey Anasoulis, Sophia Barra, Gillianne Bolduc, Sarah DeGrand, and Mariam Gebril.
Coach Pellegrino felt that North Haven’s captains set the tone with their exemplary leadership. He said that all the other seniors followed suit with the way the went about leading the team this spring.
“Our three captains, as I knew they would, kept everybody together and kept a positive attitude. They did everything in a positive manner and encouraged everyone to improve every day. When you lose a bunch of games in a row, that’s not an easy thing to do, but they came out every day and kept responding,” said Pellegrino. “The whole group of 16 seniors brought incredible leadership and not only on the varsity level. We had situations where we had some seniors play JV games to help the younger kids on the field, and it was great to see that they were in this to work with the kids. That was invaluable.”
Gebril earned All-SCC Division I Second Team honors for her relentless play on defense this season. Fellow senior Corniello also received a significant distinction when she was named North Haven’s Most Valuable Player.
“Zaina is a great defender, and the other coaches in the conference recognized that by naming her to the All-Conference Team. When a team doesn’t get a lot of wins, you don’t often get a lot of respect when it comes to All-Conference players, but a number of coaches remembered Zaina from our games,” Coach Pellegrino said. “Adriana was our leading scorer. She was one of our playmakers on offense and also helped on our transition by allowing the ball to move back up the field.”
North Haven also handed out an accolade to junior Sophia Dorio at the end of the season. Dorio, an attacker, was presented with North Haven’s Sportsmanship Award.
“Sophia was a positive influence who displayed great sportsmanship both within the team and in terms of dealing with and respecting our opponents and the officials,” said Pellegrino. “She was our second-leading scorer, and her development this year was significant. We’re expecting great things from her next year offensively.”
In addition to Dorio, North Haven’s junior class included attackers Hayly Caruso, Juliana Mascia, Riley Minns, Eliza O’Connor, and Shea Saracino; midfielders Erin Johns, Emma Kircaldie, and Jenna Pine; defender Lauren Bogaert; and starting goalkeeper Hannah Sommer.
Saracino was slated to be one of North Haven’s top players before suffering a season-ending injury in North Haven’s first game of the year. Coach Pellegrino said that he’s looking forward to seeing Saracino back on the field as a senior next season. Fellow junior Mascia was also injured and wound up serving as North Haven’s team manager.
After earning Most Improved Player honors in the Dream League last summer, Sommer stepped into the net as North Haven’s varsity goalie this year. Pellegrino was pleased with how Sommer performed in first season as the team’s varsity keeper and expects her to continue improving for the 2022 campaign.
Fellow goalie Gabriella Barry, a sophomore, served as North Haven’s varsity backup and also started for both the JV and froshmore teams—both of which had winning records—ultimately playing in 24 games this year. Barry was selected was North Haven’s Most Improved Player.
“You wouldn’t have recognized Gabby from the start of the year to the final game. Her skills developed so quickly,” Pellegrino said. “When Gabby first stepped on the field, she was unsure of how to hold the stick, but by the end of the year, you couldn’t score on her. The length and accuracy of her clears may have been her most significant area of improvement as we progressed through the season.”
Barry was one of 19 sophomores who competed in the North Haven girls’ lacrosse program this year. Even though the team is losing so many seniors, Coach Pellegrino feels optimistic because many of the program’s younger athletes gained pivotal experience at both varsity and JV levels. Pellegrino believes that the example set by the graduating seniors throughout the past few months will have a lasting effect on everyone who returns next year, when North Haven will strive to become a postseason contender.
“We all felt very positive closing the season out. It was a difficult year on the scoreboard, but we worked hard to get better every day, stayed committed, and held ourselves accountable. We accomplished those goals that we set for ourselves,” said Pellegrino. “We want to keep that positive approach going into the offseason with the game-plan of being better and ready to go when we show up next March. We hope to make a make a better showing on the scoreboard, make the State Tournament, and progress as far as we can.”