On Friday afternoon, the girls’ lacrosse team earned a historic victory, topping Staten Island Academy, 17-6, to earn the first playoff berth in program history. Since the program moved to the varsity level in 1993, no team had ever punched a postseason ticket. Until now.

The Tigers got on the board just over two minutes into the game, but the Bears responded with eight straight goals to take command. Morgan Ruggieri ignited the run at the 22:07 mark, one of her four scores during the spurt. Shannuel Lamptey added a goal six seconds later to give the Brook a lead they would not relinquish while Ruggieri’s underhanded flip punctuated the run at the 13:13 mark. Wura Obasanjo added two scores in the eight-goal spurt and Lulu Ota notched one.

Staten Island broke the string with a goal at 9:49, but the Brook responded when Ota added her second with 1:01 left. The Bears led 9-3 at the break en route to the dominant win on a wet Senior Day.

Ruggieri led all scorers with 7 goals on seven shots, while adding an assist. Obasanjo (5 G/ 1 A), Ota (2 G, 1 A), Lamptey (2 G), and Ava McCormick (1 G) rounded out the scoring for the Brook while Kate DiRuggiero, the lone senior, turned away 10 shots in goal.

The Bears are back in action on Friday in the PSAA semifinals as the #4 seed. Their opponent is yet to be determined.

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