Prep schools grateful to be back on field
Finally, high school girls lacrosse is back on the field around the are and the prep schools already have some interesting story lines.
Pennington has opened with a pair of wins over the Academy of the New Church and Peddie, while Hun has split a pair of games, defeating Peddie and falling to Blair.
Princeton Day opens its season on Monday at home against unbeaten Pennington.
Lawrenceville, which won the last Mercer County Tournament in 2019, opens on Wednesday against Peddie.
Stuart begins its season on April 20 against Princeton Day.
The pandemic never let the season get started in 2020, and there is no doubt both players and coaches are glad to be back on the field.
Mark Maser was ready to take the reins at Stuart last season before things were shut down and the same was true for Lawrenceville’s Lisa Ewanchyna.
Ewanchyna, who was an All-America player at Princeton, previously coached the Big Red from 2009-2013.
“I’m absolutely glad to be back and very fortunate that I coached a lot of these girls either in field hockey or in junior varsity or freshman lacrosse,” said Ewanchyna. “It’s going to be an easy transition and it’s going to be exciting. It’s nice that enough of the kids know me. I’m happy to be back and I definitely enjoy coaching, it’s one of my favorite parts of the day.”
Like every school due to the year off the Big Red will be lacking the usual experience.
“We have some talent and several of our players have already committed,” added Ewanchyna. “Because we didn’t play last year we have some kids that are still going to be young because they missed the experience and that’s valuable to them.”
Over the years, the Pennington and Princeton Day battles usually have something on the line. This season the Red Raiders are 2-0 and the Panthers grateful to be back on the field.
“We are excited to be back on the field again,” said Jill Thomas, the dean of the prep coaches. “The players are excited as well. There is a dedication and commitment to work hard on the field and a wonderful team chemistry both on and off field. “
If there’s a group that is really excited and grateful it’s the senior class that had a front row seat to the effect the pandemic had on the 2020 seniors.
“The senior leaders have been instrumental in creating this comradery,” added Thomas. “Having lost their junior season, they cherish every moment with each other and their teammates. As coaches, we have stressed that this season is a gift that can vanish at any moment due to Covid and to embrace every moment they are on the field together.”
It has been the same thought at Pennington where an opportunistic attack and a staunch defense has been the key.
The Red Raiders attack has been led by Bridget Lawn with eight goals in the two games.
“My team is always there for me, whenever I have a cut in they always find me,” said Lawn. “It’s a team sport and I’m not doing it by myself they always have my back.”
Eva Guarino has been nothing short of spectacular in the cage for Pennington.
“Our defense has really stepped up we have a lot of talent there and it’s just a matter of everybody getting comfortable,” said Pennington coach Wendy Morris. “It is all about confidence and there are still some things we have to fix.”
A pair of former College of New Jersey All-America players are joining the coaching ranks at Peddie and Hun.
Meredith Locasto takes over at Peddie and Kathleen Jaeger is coaching at Hun.
Locasto was a part of two TCNJ national championship teams and is still in the Lions’ record book in ground balls and caused turnovers. She comes to Peddie after leading Morristown-Beard to three state Prep B titles in her 11 years with the Crimson.
Jaeger helped the Lions to a 73-13 record during her time in Ewing and she appeared in two Final Fours, including one championship game. Jaeger is 18th on the TCNJ all-time list in points with 212 and 15th in goals with 169.