While watching a Steinert High girls’ lacrosse game, it’s hard to tell if one is at an athletic event or a drive-through burger joint.
One moment, coach Lorraine Heisler is yelling for Patty Melt to pick up an opposing attacker. The next, she is telling Mini Melt to cut to goal. Helping oversee it all is Daddy Melt.
Can’t tell the players without a menu? Er, roster?
Patty Melt is senior defender Madison Paternostro, whose original nickname of Patty was lengthened by a Melt. Mini Melt is her sister, sophomore attack Emily Paternostro, who was second on the team in goals with 13 through Steinert’s 3-1 start.
And Daddy Melt is their dad, Matt, who serves as a varsity and JV assistant coach.
“I almost feel funny calling them Maddie or Emily,” Heisler said. “They’re just Patty Melt and Mini Melt to me.”
Fortunately, they melted into Heisler’s lap and have given the Spartans solid talents at both ends of the field.
“They’re both hard working on the field and in school; they’re well rounded and it shows,” Heisler said. “They are similar, and then they’re not. They’re sisters so they’ll be all cute and sweet toward each other, and they’ll be sassy toward each other, too. It’s actually really funny to watch. I just sit back and laugh because I don’t have to go home with them.”
That job falls to Matt, who brings a wealth of lacrosse knowledge after growing up on Long Island, one of the sport’s original hotbeds.
“You don’t play Little League on Long Island,” he said. “You play lacrosse.”
Matt attended Mineola High School, a rival with nearby powerhouse Garden City. He walked on to the University of Delaware lacrosse team for one year before joining the ROTC.
Naturally, Matt encouraged his daughters to try his sport. Maddie joined the Robbinsville Recreation program in third grade.
“I did do it for a while just because he kind of forced me to,” Maddie said with a laugh. “But I ended up liking it a lot and when I got into high school I started liking it even more.”
Two years later, when she was in second grade, Emily began the sport, saying, “I don’t remember why I started, but I guess I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool,’ and I’ve been playing all my life.”
Despite a two-year gap in age, the two played on the same teams together as Emily, who takes the sport more seriously, played up a level. Their dad coached them throughout rec; and joined the Spartans staff last year.
“I set up a net in the back yard, a rebounder, and I give them some pointers,” Matt said. “They have catches, and they have some good battles. They have no problem critiquing each other, like any teenager would.”
According to Maddie, they are a little more than catches.
“They’re rough,” she said. “They usually end up a little more dirty than what happens on the field. But it helps us. She’s actually the better player so she kind of helps me out. She takes it more seriously, she plays for a travel team over the summer. I just go for fun.”
And yet Maddie quickly earned a starting varsity job for Steinert as a freshman, which did not surprise her.
“For a lot of girls coming here, lacrosse is a first-year kind of thing,” Maddie said. “I knew with my background I’d be able to make varsity.”
What made it so impressive is that Paternostro stands 5-foot-1, so her physical attributes are not that of a classic defender.
“Madison jumped right in,” Heisler said. “She’s small but she can contain big players, which is really kind of cool.”
And just how is that possible?
“I’m not afraid to push back when they push at me,” said Maddie, a converted midfielder. “I also keep my stick up. I’m not as tall as them but my stick kind of makes up for it. I also have a little speed so I can keep up.”
Having Emily in uniform helps as well.
“It’s actually more comforting having her on the field with me,” Maddie said. “I’m on D, she’s on offense, so we can work together in the midfield. I like that.”
Emily feels the same way. Despite her significant travel experience—she has played with the Garden State Elite program for three years—it was nice to have a friendly face when she arrived at Steinert.
“She’s helped get me through high school,” Emily said. “She’ll drive me to school in the morning, we’ll listen to music. She’s allowed me to meet new people. I was only a freshman; I felt I had a lot of big things to live up to. But at the same time Madison and (the graduated) Riley Smith and Sam Manz; we were all close last year, I’m glad I had them.”
Emily had 19 goals as a freshman, which tied her with Ashley Goimbert for second on the team behind Hannah Hart (38). All three are back this year to give Steinert a solid offense.
And while the sisters are at different positions, all three Paternostros feed off each other.
“I’m usually helping Maddie, but some things happen in the game and we talk at home,” said Emily, who hopes to play in college. “Even with dad; we put in our little inputs. I’ll help her if she messes something up, and she helps me the same way.”
It has been quite a year for Madison off the field. She has been accepted to High Point University in North Carolina, where she will study sales. A two-year cheerleader, she is also president of Steinert’s Key Club and a member of the National Honor Society. Her well-rounded abilities made Madison this year’s Miss St. Patrick in the Hamilton Township St. Paddy’s Day Parade.
“Now I’m St. Paddy Melt,” she said with a grin.
Asked if she will assume the Patty Melt role when her sister graduates, Emily shook her head.
“I’m good with Mini-Melt,” she said. “Mini-Melt for life!”
Maddie, Matt and Emily Paternostro each do their part for the Steinert girls’ lacrosse team. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
