As the high school lacrosse season winds down and after watching the men’s and women’s college National Championships, I thought that I would reflect on my own lacrosse career playing in the Lehigh Valley. Throughout my lacrosse career, I have been able to play in high competition both in high school and college. I went to Saucon Valley High School and then went on to play at Moravian University. During my time at Saucon, we were the 2A District XI champions three years in a row in 2017, 2018, and 2019, making an appearance in the State competition all three years. Although the 2020 season was canceled, I’m sure that it would have been another good battle for the title. Then at Moravian, although I was only on the field for one season due to injury, we made it to the Landmark Conference playoffs all four years.
The end of the season in high school was always exciting because it was always towards the end of the school year. Getting to the District finals game and getting to play in Lehigh or DeSales’ stadiums was always special because we didn’t get to play on many turf fields so getting to be able to do that in a new and special environment was something that everyone always looked forward to. Then once we got to States we got the police escort down Main St. and getting to see our families and friends cheer us on along the road was something that was so fun.
In 2017, it was Saucon’s first District XI title and PIAA State appearance. Being able to be a part of our program’s history is something that I will always remember. One of the things that we were most looking forward to was finally getting a “Girls Lacrosse” banner hung up in the gym. Being a part of our school’s program history was even more meaningful because our head coach, Jane Hoff had started the youth program and had coached most of us from the time that we started playing until we graduated so that was something very special to experience. Then to be able to do it with all of my friends was even better. We had all been really close and played other sports outside of lacrosse together whether that was field hockey, soccer or basketball. I think that our team chemistry was something that led us to our success and something that made playing lacrosse so enjoyable.
In college, it was a similar experience. I got to be teammates with some of the girls that I had played against in high school like Meaghan McMullan (Moravian Academy), Liv Clearie (Nazareth), Bre Frederico (Naazareth), Rylee Soltis (Easton), Alise Downey (SoLehigh), and Liv Williams (Quakertown) and play against some of my former teammates Sarah Duffy (Muhlenberg) and Kat Naiburg (TCNJ). The Landmark playoffs were always during our finals week which was always a little bit stressful, but an exciting time of year. Every year we knew that it was the start of a “new season” and that there was another level of competition. The game that stands out to me the most was beating Scranton for the first time in program history in 2023 after losing to them in every matchup. Being a part of the team and being out on the field to experience it first hand was a moment that I will never forget.
Although my lacrosse career was not a traditional one with many roadblocks and setbacks, I could not have asked for a better one. I was able to learn and gain so much knowledge of the game throughout my time watching and playing. Getting to experience and be able to make history in both my high school and college careers is something that I will cherish forever, and I could not have done it without my coaches, parents, athletic trainers and amazing teammates.
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