Without the services of All-American Shannon Smith (who is out with a sprained ankle), the West Babylon girls lacrosse team lost for the second time in its last three games after a 7-0 start in Division I.
West Babylon coach Paul DiGiulio said last week that he was going to be extra cautious with the injury, but also said that he was targeting today's game against East Islip as a possible return date.
On Thursday, West Babylon will play host to Bay Shore in a matchup of two-loss teams in the division. If Smith doesn't play in this one, it may be time for West Babylon fans to start worrying about the injury a little bit more.
Bay Shore, West Babylon and Smithtown East all have two Division I losses, while Northport and West Islip have just one. This makes Thursday's game that much more important, because West Babylon is still in the hunt for one of the top two seeds in the Class A playoffs, which would mean home-field advantage until the county title game at Stony Brook.
Just two more notes about West Babylon:
1. Playing against a goalie making her first varsity start (junior Jaclyn DeFranco), don't you think a championship-caliber team would score more than 12 goals, even without its star player?
I think this has to be chalked up to inexperience. West Babylon has just three seniors on its roster, and the two other than Smith play in the back. Smith is a stabilizing force up front for the youngsters, and without her, things can get a little scrambled.
Sophomore Alyssa Murray showed signs of taking that leadership position with five goals and a career-high nine assists in a 23-4 win over Floyd last Friday. But against quality opponents, the team needs Smith as its anchor.
2. Now that Smith has missed three games (plus the second half of the West Islip game), her chances of breaking her own state record of 129 goals in a season she set as a sophomore, have dwindled, but are not completely extinguished yet.
Smith was on pace to break it before the injury with a Long Island-high 83 goals.
To do it in the regular season, Smith would have to average 11.5 goals per game over the next four games, which is unlikely but not out of the question for such a prolific scorer—assuming she plays in all four games. But with an extra one, two, three, four, five, or six games in the playoffs, the mark becomes well within reach.
We'll keep an eye out on this, and on Smith's injury as the week progresses.