Printer Friendly Version - Girls' Lax Continued Its Climb Up the SCC Ranks

Senior tri-captain Marnie Jacobs earned First Team All-SCC honors for a Guilford girls' lacrosse team that continued to make noise in the conference this spring, including knocking off four-time reigning champion Cheshire on Senior Night.

Playing for a new head coach against some of the stiffest competition in the SCC, Guilford girls' lacrosse showed its competitiveness and resiliency by again reaching both postseason tournaments and further strengthening the foundation for deeper playoff prominence.

Steve Jewett's club finished with a 7-9-1 mark overall, earning the Indians the No. 3 and 19 seeds in the conference and state tournaments, respectively. Although Guilford fell to Hand in the SCC semifinals and eventual champion Wilton in the first round of the Class M State Tournament, Jewett felt his rookie campaign with the Indians was a success on multiple levels.

"We met our goal, as our goals were to develop as a team across levels [freshmen, JV, varsity] and to participate in postseason play," said Jewett. "It was an excellent team effort this spring. We developed our offensive and defensive systems across levels and will step right into competitive play next year."

The Indians (5-1-1; 3rd in SCC Tier 1) were led by senior tri-captains of Jenna Moscarelli (Coaches' Award), Grace Ireland (team defensive MVP), and Marnie Jacobs (team offensive MVP) with Katy Jankura, Chris Teahan, Kim Teahan, Kayleigh Congdon, Julia Chamberlain, Sara Amble, Megan O'Connor, Aimee Lovington, Maddie Blank, and Clare Hall completing the senior class.

The Indians had plenty of representatives on both conference and state postseason award listings with junior Edy Moritz earning Second Team All-State honors. For All-SCC Team bids, Ireland, Jacobs, and Moritz were all named to the First Team, and junior Katrina Niedziela with sophomore Emma Jewett made the Second Team. In remaining team honors, Moritz was named MVP, plus Niedziela took home the Sportsmanship Award.

As the Indians grabbed a state playoff triumph by defeating No. 14 Stratford 13-8 on the road in the qualifying round, they also scored a huge Senior Night upset of four-time league champion Cheshire by a 10-8 final for the Rams' first conference loss of the season.

Following two consecutive years of being an SCC semifinalist, Jewett added that he feels this group can certainly get over that hump come next May.

"An excellent core of players back at all positions for 2015, captained by [junior] Nicole Raccuia, Edy Moritz, and Katrina Niedziela," said Jewett. "We will be a solid contender for SCC championship game."