They may not make headlines because both are busy preventing goals rather than scoring them. But rest assured that the girls who put the “Lawrence” into the Lawrenceville School lacrosse team were integral parts of this year’s Mercer County Tournament champion squad.
As of May 16 the Big Red carried a 16-3 record into their final two games, having successfully defended their 2017 MCT title and reaching the NJISAA Prep A finals before falling to Oak Knoll.
A big reason for the success was the play of two juniors from Lawrence Township—defensive midfielder Meg Barnes and defender Lucy Gutman. The good friends grew up together on and off the lacrosse field and while neither plan on playing the sport in college, both are invaluable to their high school coach.
“This year they have both stepped up incredibly and they are both solid defenders, smart defenders and tenacious competitors,” Chris Schulte said. “They’re both athletic but I think mostly, they’re smart. They understand the game, they have a good lacrosse IQ so they make good decisions.”
They are also both Lawrenceville legacies, as Barnes’ siblings and Gutman’s parents have a history with the school.
Barnes’ older sisters, Emma and Kelley, both played lacrosse for the Big Red. Emma went on to play for William Smith, while Kelley was on the Connecticut College crew team.
“I always had a stick in my hand on the sidelines of my sisters’ games,” said Barnes, who was a little kid at the time. “I actually grew up on campus there so it was something I always looked forward to. They were always my role models, all the girls on the team. I looked forward to playing with them. Now that I am playing with them it’s great. The girls are so much fun. We all support each other on and off the field so it’s a great time.”
The Barnes sisters followed in the footsteps of their dad, who played for Bowdoin College in Maine. Barnes said she “officially started playing” in fourth grade in the Hopewell Recreation League. She moved to Princeton rec and began playing travel in sixth grade with the Garden State Elite. During that period, she had Gutman as a teammate.
“We’ve also played soccer and basketball together,” Gutman said. “We have a long history of playing together.”
‘They’re both kind of unassuming and hard working. Sometimes goofy…but a good goofy.’
The two parted ways on just a few occasions—Barnes played travel for Garden State Lacrosse and Gutman played for Ultimate Lacrosse; and Barnes went to Stuart Country Day in middle school while Gutman went to Princeton Day School. But for the most part they were side by side and there was never much question they would re-unite at Lawrenceville.
“My dad graduated from here in 1979 and my mother worked at Lawrenceville,” Gutman said. “I looked elsewhere, but I really liked the campus.”
Gutman lost her buddy last spring when Barnes was accepted to the Island School in the Bahamas for the semester.
“It was really fun and a great experience,” Barnes said. “But I really missed lacrosse.”
In retrospect, Gutman wouldn’t have minded missing the sport for one season.
“That was a mistake,” she said with a laugh. “I should have applied to go.”
Much to Schulte’s delight, they are together again and making things happen.
“They’re both kind of unassuming and hard working,” the coach said. “Sometimes goofy…but a good goofy.”
Barnes agreed on that last point, saying, “yeah, us and another girl on the team are always kind of giggling at some things. But we keep it serious, too.”
Especially on the field, where the two interact as if they have been playing together all their lives, which should be no surprise.
“We’ve always been on the field together,” Barnes said. “That is helpful for defense because we’ve got that good dynamic.”
How so?
“There’s things that go without saying for us,” Gutman said. “One day in practice we were working on stacks, I called something, Meg called something and we both knew Meg was right and went with that. Other people, whatever the first person says usually goes. So it’s kind of knowing our strengths and not having to talk about them; knowing when she’s going to be there and you don’t’ have to call for help. It’s a lot of unspoken things that just come from being on the field together for so long and learning how to play lacrosse together. We developed similarly.”
The only difference is that Barnes sometimes drops back on defense and other times plays midfield, although in a defensive role.
“Midfield’s a lot of running,” Barnes said. “Sometimes I like that, sometimes I don’t, depending on the game. But they’re both great.”
She feels the key to defending a player is two-fold.
“The first is always moving your feet,” she said. “That’s pretty important because if you stop, they can get by you. And another thing is team defense, which involves communicating a lot. That’s pretty important so you can help your teammates out and they can help you.”
They helped each other enough to easily win a second straight MCT title after losing in the championship game their freshman year. Since Barnes was in the Bahamas and Gutman did not start last season, this one seemed new and fresh to them.
“It’s so exciting,” said Barnes, who is already committed to play field hockey at Dartmouth. “I wasn’t here last year so I didn’t get the joy of experiencing it. It was great to come back and win it again. It just goes to show all the hard work we put in.”
“It’s awesome,” added Gutman, who has no plans of playing sports in college. “Our team chemistry this year has been amazing. Just being on defense with Meg and Nico Sacchi and Grace Faircloth has been the best part of the spring term; to be out there together and kind of leave things behind and come to practice and games. It’s just been great.”
Lawrence residents Lucy Gutman (left) and Meg Barnes have been side by side on the athletic fields all their lives, and were key components in the Lawrenceville School’s second straight Mercer County Tournament lacrosse championship this year. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
