“Lacrosse: Turning violent personalities to world class athletes.” If this statement is true, then most of the twenty members of Pingry girls’ varsity lacrosse team must be in dire need of anger management. Their final regular season record stands at a whopping 14-6. According to Varsity Coach Carter Abbott, the team’s best game was against Hunterdon Central. “The Pingry team hadn’t been leading the game until the last four seconds. Then they really went for it, bringing the final score to 15-14.” Abbot continued, “Also, one of our players scored nine goals in this game, which was amazing.” Currently, the team is ranked fourteenth in the state on nj.com, and is currently seeded third in the Somerset County Tournament.
“This is the best we’ve done in a while, and the best rank we’ve had in about five years. It’s really exciting,” says Abbott. She attributes much of the success of the season to the leadership of the seven seniors, Mairead Higgins (VI), Shea Smith (VI), Sana Sheikh (VI), Josie Cummings (VI), Elle Braveman (VI), Tea Simon (VI), and Jenny Coyne (VI), and the other coaches, Assistant Coach Meredith Finkelstein and Goalie Coach Courtney Tierney. Abbott also says that the team’s “versatile attack” and “experienced defense” are their best weapons. “In each meet, we have four of five different people scoring, which makes us difficult to stop. Having a lot of weapons makes it difficult to stop them all.” she says. Additionally, Abbott states that the twenty-three new freshman, one of whom is on varsity, have contributed much to the team.