By STEPHEN HAYNES Newsday (Reprinted)

With its slides, shifts and switches, the Farmingdale defense is expected to flow in complete unison, reading and reacting simultaneously, with several players all functioning as one.

And when that comes together almost flawlessly, as it did Wednesday . . . One.
That's the number of goals the Dalers allowed as they topped Massapequa, 12-1, in Conference I girls lacrosse.

"That's a really difficult feat to accomplish and it's not something you expect," defender Diana Prendergast said. "We're really proud of that."

Bridget Weill scored four goals, Chrissy Kelly had three goals and three assists, and Tara Wahl had three goals for Farmingdale (2-0). Zoe Zebersky opened the scoring 2:31 in.

But here's to a defense that dominated this rematch of the Nassau Class A final.
"Our five low defenders and goalie are seniors so we expected to be good," Dalers coach Shari Campbell said, "but I can't remember ever holding an opponent to one."

Seldom was there room for Massapequa (0-2) to operate. On the Chiefs' longest possession, midway through the first half, Farmingdale defended so well it took more than two minutes before Massapequa got a shot off -- and it was stopped by Olivia Kirk (six saves).

These defenders have played together in youth leagues since they were 6 "so the chemistry is definitely there," Lindsey Rzempoluch said. "We know each other's tendencies so well that it's easy to work together."

Jaclyn Gatti scored for the Chiefs with 16:14 remaining.

Farmingdale won a state title last year but graduated two All-Americans from its offense, so it was expected that the onus would be on the defense, at least early. Any added pressure?

"Maybe," said Samantha Brescia, a UMass-bound defender, "but it's nothing we can't handle. We take a lot of pride in it and we're confident we can do a lot of amazing things."

Wednesday was one.