WW-P High School lacrosse teams are wrapping up the 2012 season with the Mercer County Tournament and hopes to make a run in the state championships.
But for South (6-9) and North (12-4), this has been a year to develop younger talent — a combined 19 seniors graduated from the teams’ 2011 rosters. Coach Bryan Fisher of High School South sees a continuation of the trend happening in the future.
“We have an outstanding senior class this year — Anna Tadej, Emma Sivertsen, Danielle Balzano, Katelyn Salerno, Lauren Savage, and Erica Borsack. I will miss them very much next year,” Fisher said.
The two teams squared off in the semifinal round of the Mercer County Tournament (MCT) on Wednesday, May 9, with North winning by a score of 19-16.
With the season drawing to a close, both coaches talked about their progress. South has been sparked by sophomore midfielder Rachel Salerno, who’s recorded more than 50 goals and 20 assists. Tadej, one of the seniors Fisher alludes to, has performed well with 36 goals and 5 assists heading into the MCT, as has Salerno, the team’s senior goalie, who has more than 135 saves.
A pair of juniors have helped South’s offense. Junior midfielder Skylar DeLemos has scored 17 goals and picked up 38 groundballs. On the attack Colby Hussong has contributed 13 goals and 13 assists.
On defense, Fisher says sophomore Jasmine Wallack and juniors Joie Gochuico and Sloane Garelick have all contributed tremendous energy and emotion in every game. They have learned from playing alongside two seniors, Borsack and Savage.
Fisher says that the Colonial division is very difficult, and every game is a challenge. He points to one-goal wins over North (13-12) and Princeton (11-10) as being among the season’s highlights, and he’s excited about how the team has grown this spring.
“We graduated seven starters from last year’s 16-3 team, and we have had some stumbles along the way. But right now are playing our best lacrosse,” Fisher says.
High School North’s girls lacrosse team has also faced adversity this year. Coach Beth Serughetti said it’s been a very challenging season because the team lost 12 seniors to graduation. This year the team has just four seniors.
“Our team is much smaller this year, and one of senior, Emily Wu, tore her ACL and MCL in the second game of the season after a strong start,” the coach said.
Serughetti’s team practices six days a week, but an inexperienced roster and the time of year in which the season takes place have not helped. She cites “obstacles” such as plays, field trips, and school dances. This year North’s junior prom was the night before the lacrosse team’s second game against South.
“We were missing nine girls from practice the day before the game, and that really throws a wrench into the preparation necessary when facing a team,” Serughetti said.
“It’s a real challenge to prepare a team during March due to the senior and junior class trips. Working on conditioning, fundamentals, and team cohesion is difficult when you don’t have a full squad working together from day to day until the last week of March. It’s not until the second week of April when things start to come together,” she said.
The team’s leadership has come on defense from senior captain Nancy Wu and from senior Kristine Towell on the attack. “She is having her best season ever, scoring 27 goals, and playing strong lacrosse on our offensive end,” Serughetti says.
This season has also seen individual milestones. Junior captain Ana Lucia Dellien was the first to score her 100th career goal this year. She also captured North’s career assist record with more than 48 assists.
Sophomore Olivia Harpel scored her 100th goal a few games after her teammate, and senior Devin Brakel also scored her 100th career goal.
North’s goalie, Junior Alexa L’Insalata, made her 200th career save this season. L’Insalata has already saved over 150 shots this season, and Serughetti said she’s “been an anchor for us.” The coach says that has been an important factor for building team chemistry.
“The biggest improvement we have made this season is playing as a unit versus playing as several individuals. The transformation is always very exciting to watch as a coach,” she said.
In midfield, sophomore Julia Tampellini and junior Dani Siano have also played feature roles. North’s newcomers have also performed well. Junior Zoe Barnett-Ohori and sophomore attacker Deirdre Pehnke are new to the varsity attacking unit. Serughetti says sophomore Eva Boal is “doing a fantastic job” as the varsity’s back-up goalie.
Freshman defender Sarah Carlen and midfielder Catherine Mak are new to the varsity line-up and both have earned starting positions. Also new to varsity this season are Nicole Ciolfi, Isha Singh, Kayla Carlen, and Alison Fleming.
Serughetti pointed to two of her team’s wins this year as tests of character. The first was against Princeton, the second game the two schools played. At the time Princeton was the only undefeated team in the conference and North’s key midfielder, Lucia Dellien, was injured.
“We did not play well in the first game and we were ready to redeem ourselves. We played extremely well and ended up winning that game by three goals,” Serughetti said.
Another game that North stepped up to win was its second game against Hopewell Valley.
“We were down by six goals at one point and came back. The girls showed perseverance and never stopped giving it their full effort,” the coach said.
