The St. Anthony’s girls lacrosse team can defeat teams any way it has to.

Sure, the Friars love to run up and down the field and have a scoring sheet featuring multiple players with four or five points, but sometimes the game calls for something different.

Saturday was one of those different kinds of games. But the end result was exactly the same as the Friars come to expect — a victory.

St. Anthony’s defeated Greenwich Academy (Connecticut), 6-5, at the Gains for Brains girls lacrosse showcase supporting the Making Headway Foundation at Cold Spring Harbor High School Saturday afternoon. The Friars, with 101 goals in eight games, relied on a strong defensive effort throughout the contest.

“Our defense played fantastic, our goalie played fantastic,” coach Summer Koepplin said. “That whole unit, that was really impressive. We prep heavy on defense, it’s always one of our strongest parts.”

Shae Lembo had nine saves behind a tough defense including Samantha Baker, Taylor Cullen and Amanda Paci.

“We just come together as a unit and know we can hold offenses as long as we need to until we get the ball back,” Cullen said. “That’s just our mindset going into those long defensive holds.”

And when a player breaks loose, the Friars know Lembo will be there to halt the attack more often than not.

“We always know she has our back,” Cullen said. “We say all the time in games ‘Thanks Shae’ when she saves something when we miscommunicate. She’s just such a big presence in the goal and we really couldn’t do it without her.”

Lembo embraces being the last line of defense and although it’s not always the most comfortable feeling, she loves the team relying on her.

“I thrive under pressure so I feel I just zone and try to make the saves I can,” Lembo said “I support my defense and just make sure we are playing together as a unit.”

St. Anthony’s (7-1) opened a 5-1 lead with 13:28 remaining in the first half, including two goals from Tess Calabria.

“Those goals determined the game,” Calabria said. “We’re big on trying to run and gun and get right to it at the beginning.”

The Friars led 6-3 at halftime and Greenwich Academy scored the only two goals of the second half.

“We’re really fortunate to have some great defenders and we’re not lopsided on offense,” Calabria said. “We’re pretty even across all points of the field.”

St. Anthony’s plays one of the most competitive schedules in the country. After not having a season in 2020 and only playing league contests in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the players embrace the opportunity to consistently play top teams from the area yet again.

“We love that we play on a national scale,” Lembo said. “Not just Long Island or New York teams but being able to play teams from everywhere just brings everyone’s talent and greatness out. It makes us thrive as a team.”