Girls Lacrosse Ranked No. 1 Among New England Preps
The Loomis Chaffee girls lacrosse team recently achieved a No. 1 New England prep school ranking by LaxPower.com. This is the second year in a row that the Pelican team has hit the top of the regional rankings.
Among the notable competition are Brooks Academy, Thayer Academy, Philips Andover, and Middlesex, to round out the top five.
The team recently defeated a strong Greenwich Academy team 18-8, making the Pelicans 15-0-0 for the season to date. The team has two important games on the horizon, however, the first at home against Kent on Wednesday, May 19, and the final game of the season at Hotchkiss (8-2-0 and currently ranked No. 7), on Saturday, May 22. If the Pelicans win the Kent game on Wednesday, it will clinch a third consecutive Founders League Championship. The team has lost only two games during this time.
Head Coach Lisa Parsons said the team has unified this season. “There was no question that we had a group of incredible athletes, but the question was how well we would play together as a team," she remarked. "But the pieces did in fact come together, and the team realized that if they worked together and were focused and disciplined on the little things that the big things would fall into place. The Greenwich game was a great win for the Pelicans and it gave us some great momentum, as we hope to finish our season on a high note against Kent and Hotchkiss.”
Captaining the squad this year are Molly Paduda, Chelsea Ryan, and Kate McCarthy. “The three captains have really pulled the team together,” Lisa stated, describing Kate as the "sparkplug" who leads the team in nearly every statistic, Molly as the defensive "catalyst" and "one of the most selfless players I know," and Chelsea as "the anchor of the team" who does "all of the little things that are noticed only by the coaches.
“Kate McCarthy was the sparkplug and leads the team in virtually every statistical category — goals, ground balls, caused turnovers, while Molly Paduda was the catalyst for the defense motivator who kept things moving forward, one of the most selfless players I know. Chelsea Ryan was the anchor of the team, the one who always saw the big picture and did all of the little things that are noticed only by the coaches.”
The LC girls lacrosse program has a long tradition of excellence. Over the past 15 years, the girls team has consistently finished among the top teams in New England, having won the Founders League for seven of the past 10 years. Since 1992, a dozen LC girls have been selected as high school All-Americans in the sport, and players on the team aspire to play at the next level at both Division I and Division III colleges. Similarly, each year Loomis lacrosse is represented at the National Lacrosse Tournament, competing on one of the New England teams.
The team hosts Kent at 3 p.m. on Wednesday and travels to Hotchkiss for the final game of the season at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The Final Four in men’s lacrosse consists of four of the best teams in college lacrosse contending for the national championship. Three of the four teams in this year’s championship have Loomis graduates on their rosters, all from the Class of 2011.
Sarah Wilson '05 went from Pelican maroon to Harvard's Crimson and now will don red, white, and blue for the United States.
Dartmouth sophomore Sarah Byrne '11 this weekend became the second player in Big Green women's lacrosse history to have consecutive games with at least four goals in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The only other Dartmouth player to accomplish this feat was another LC alumna, Katieanne Christian '01.
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