Head Coach: Summer Koepplin
Seniors with commitments: Hunter Roman (Boston College), Katie Desimone (Duke), Natalie Smith (Syracuse), Allison Koehler (Stony Brook), Alexandra (Allie) Lagano (Springfield), Kathleen (Kay) Rosselli (High Point), Isabella Palagonia (Florida), Elizabeth (Lulu) Hardy (Univ. Chicago), Riley Cherkes (Catholic University Athletics),
Juniors: Erin O’ Grady (Michigan) Victoria Goldrick (Rutgers)
2018-19 Overall record: 20-1 & League record: 8-0
Biggest League Opponent – Sacred Heart beat twice in reg season and once in the championships.
2020 US Lacrosse Magazine National ranking #5
Inside Lacrosse 3/6/2020 Regional Ranking #4
Starting off the season as reigning champions of the girls league the Lady Friars hope to repeat a successful season. With a dominant starting line up led by Seniors, Katie Desimone and Hunter Roman they hope to use their skills to out wit and out play their competition. The friars are preparing for what they hope is their “best season yet”, as they send nine of their seniors to DI colleges to pursue their lacrosse career at the collegiate level.
Returning, they have starting Junior goalie Erin O’Grady who helped clinch the title for the friars last May and will continue her lacrosse career at Michigan in 2021. Midfielder/Attackmen Victoria Goldrick who just announced her commitment to Rutgers this past winter is hopeful for the opportunity to get on the field and put her skills to use. With their upstanding perfect league record from last year they will work hard to protect the undefeated record and win another CHSAA title.
The Friars will face multiple tough opponents including Island public schools, #4 Cold Spring Harbor who went 19-2 in 2019, Syosset and #11 Manhasset. They will also face New Jersey state champions Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child who went 23-2 against teams all across the country holding an impressive 5-0 road win record. SA biggest in league competition is Sacred Heart, Friars went 3-0 again last spring to capture the CHSAA Title. The Lady Spartans have a strong defense that they hope to use to their advantage this season. Coach Summer Koeplien has already recognized this and has been working with her team to overcome all surprises that may be thrown at her girls this spring if they make it to the field.
When checking in with some of the Seniors about their goals for this season and what game they are most looking forward to we heard back from Senior Natalie Smith who said, “Our goal is to work harder than any other team, to go undefeated, win another championship and make memories along the way.” Very straight forward answers from Smith who hopes to make this season everything a senior season to be with excitement and lasting memories.
We spoke with Senior Bella Palagonia who stated, “My goal for this season is to go undefeated, because last year we only lost one game and we came so close to going undefeated and we don’t want to lose again.” The Lady Friars’ one loss came against Long Island public school, Cold Spring Harbor, who they hope to meet again this season in order to seek redemption. Both seniors who have less than six months here at Saint Anthony’s hope to make their senior year all they could imagine. But never imagined being delayed due to a national pandemic.
I also asked both girls what game they are most looking forward to this season. Palagonia answered, “The game I’m looking forward to the most is probably Cold Spring Harbor because they were the one team that beat us last year and I definitely think we can beat them this year.”
Lacrosse is a big deal on the island; we see rivalries from not only teams in the same league but private and public school teams who look to be the best. Smith added, “I am most excited to play Cold Spring Harbor. Playing some of your friends from travel teams is fun; it creates a rivalry that is exciting to play.” Both ladies are excited to kick off the season and defeat everyone in their path.
With school currently closed because of COVID-19 (please advise your local health websites for more information about COVID-19), the girl’s season is currently at a halt. This global virus was not anticipated and did set back most sports here at Saint Anthony’s.
Junior Erin O’Grady stated, “Yes this pandemic is a major concern for our season because so many things have been cancelled already. We have a really special group of seniors that can do great things for our team in their last season so I hope we have a chance to do that! U.S. lacrosse ranked us fifth in the country coming into this season which is a big deal for us and we have a couple of games scheduled this year that can help us to increase that ranking and our team’s momentum moving forward for years to come.” They hope to use this accomplishment to their advantage and prove their talent on the field this season.
Talking with the Junior goalie we also asked her what she thought the team’s biggest challenge was going to be entering this season. O’Grady informed us that, “The biggest challenge along with our tough schedule is going to be filling spots that were graduated last year. There’s definitely a lot of talent this year so I’m hoping as a team we can develop into a unit to win a lot of those top ten games.” The Friars schedule is one of the most difficult ones they have seen in past years.
The Lady Friars can’t wait to get back on the field and play the sport they love. Follow me as I keep you updated with this year’s Friars lacrosse team and the future of this season.
Gabrielle Miller is a sophomore at St. Anthony’s High School, this is her first year at Friar Scoreboard. She is a captain of the girls JVA basketball team and hopes to study journalism in the future. Her goal; to reach the hearts of as many people through the power of words.
