For the past two seasons, High School South’s girls’ lacrosse team racked up only five wins. This year, however, with a record of 8-3 halfway through the season, they have much to celebrate. And one member of the team that has been an integral part of the team’s success has celebrated her own milestone.##M:[more]##
Senior captain Megan Odachowski scored her 100th career goal on April 17 in the team’s win against Allentown. The feat culminates the hard work Odachowski has dedicated to the sport since she began playing it just five years ago.
Odachowski moved to West Windsor with her family from Somerset when she was four years old. Her father works as an advertising manager for radio stations.
She began playing lacrosse in seventh grade after trying her hand at many other sports, including soccer, track, basketball, and softball. When she began playing for the Lightning Lacrosse team, she she dropped everything else.
Now, with the 100th goal under her belt, “it’s really wonderful to finally see your hard work pay off,” says Odachowski. “We have a very young team this year, so it’s keeping everyone motivated,” she said. And in addition to putting points on the board, Odachowski has served as its captain.
Off the field, Odachowski has been nothing short of involved — she was this year’s Homecoming Queen, and she has been busy studying math and Spanish culture, two subjects that she hopes will be an integral part of her future. “Hopefully, I can travel to countries with Spanish-speaking cultures,” she says. “I’d love to immerse myself in the culture.”
Combined with her love of the game, her interests got her through some tough times last season after her mother, a speech therapist at Grover Middle School, died. “Being in school and being on a lacrosse team were really my crutches that got me through it. Being so immersed in the junior year of high school, I channeled my energy into the positive,” which in turn, taught her to “be resilient and work hard through any tough times that come ahead of me.”
While she does not plan to pursue a lacrosse career on the collegiate level, she said she would love to play for a club lacrosse team.
In the meantime, Odachowski is part of the Kitchen Table Tutoring program at Grover Middle School. She is also a member of the Spanish Honors Society and the Spanish club at South. She will be attending the University of Delaware next year, and plans to major in international business.
On the field, she is focused on getting her team qualified for the state tournament, which South has not reached for the past five or six years. But Odachowski is confident that the girls can do it this year. “I think we’re just working hard on making connections whether it’s playing defense or playing offense. It doesn’t take just one individual player to have a successful season,” she said.
Heading into the season, Odachowski said she knew she had 76 goals and that the milestone was reachable. But “I tried to knock out as many as I could; I wasn’t thinking about it.”
By the April 17 game, she knew she only needed three more goals, and she was able to reach it. The game was stopped, and Odachowski was honored, and experience she called “thrilling.”
Still, Odachowski credits the team’s new head coach, Bryan Fisher, who moved up from coaching the JV. “He has been so motivational and so great, and he truly cares about each girl on the team,” Odachowski says.
Odachowski is most proud of the reputation the team has been able to build with this season’s success, and her goals for the rest of the season include pushing the team to reach the state tournament. “We were always overlooked as a program,” and the excitement is watching the recognition received from the turn around.
What advice would she give to others heading toward the same milestone? “Don’t keep count; don’t have a tally. Focus more on the team’s goals.”
