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Valley Girls’ Lacrosse Was Set for Playoff Return

The Valley Regional girls’ lacrosse ended the 2019 season with a 6-10 record, just a game short of reaching the Class S State Tournament. In 2020, the Warriors had aspirations of reaching both the Shoreline Conference Tournament as well as states. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Head Coach Randy Netsch and his squad were unable to take the field this spring to find out how far they could go.

Coach Netsch had big expectations for the Warriors this season due to a large influx of freshmen players in both 2019 and 2020. Last year’s team had some growing pains with a plethora of inexperienced varsity players, but that trial by fire would have hopefully paid off this spring.

“We had a really young team this year. We only have three seniors and two juniors. but nine sophomores, and there were 14 freshmen coming into play this year,” said Netsch. “I was extremely excited this year. Those freshmen in 2019 got over their reservations about playing with a new team. I think they would have come out really strong for us, and we were looking forward to getting back into the state tournament.”

All three of Valley’s seniors were slated to be team captains this season. Coach Netsch knew that he had a trio of quality leaders in Maeve Collins, Cielia Ghilani, and Elena Peterlik.

“We had three senior captains, and they were probably one of the best groups of captains I’ve ever coached,” Netsch said. “I think the team would have done well under them. They are all real nurturing and hard working. Just a fantastic group to work with, and all three were key components to our team.”

Collins played in the backfield for the Warriors, and her defensive IQ led to her directing a lot of traffic around the net. Netsch knew the defense was in good hands with Collins at the helm.

“Maeve was the general on the defense. She was a really good communicator and tough as nails,” said Netsch. “She can handle herself as well as anybody back there. She’s a smart player who could see the offense develop, and she had great anticipation.”

Peterlik played alongside Collins on defense, but she had leeway to surprise opponents with a quick carry up the field. Peterlik boasted tremendous speed, and she could set in motion a key offensive attack by streaking past opponents.

“Elena’s probably one of the fastest players on the team. She’s always quick to recover on the defensive end, and she’s capable of transitioning the ball up field,” Netsch said. “We’d let her take the ball out of the defensive end to the offensive end because she was so fast. It wasn’t often, but if she got the ball, and she was open, she had free run to take it to the goal. She knew how to wait for the right opportunity.”

Ghilani roamed the midfield for Valley and was responsible for taking most of the Warriors’ draws. Acquiring and maintaining possession is such an integral part to the success of a lacrosse squad, and Ghilani was where the Warriors’ possessions would often begin.

“Celia was a really important part of our midfield. She was always on the circle. She would probably get a major part of our draw controls,” Netsch said. “She was always quick off the draw and had excellent stick skills. She had good body position and great hand-eye coordination. She’ll be tough to replace on the circle next year.”

Further rounding out the Warriors were their two juniors, Libby Cap and Abby Shakun. The majority of Valley’s more experienced players occupied spots in the midfield and backfield. Coach Netsch knew that defense would be one of his team’s main strengths this spring.

“Abby is versatile; she could go anywhere. Whether it was offense, midfield, or defense she could do it. She’s kind of a utility player. She’s a fantastic girl. She doesn’t necessarily have the skills of some of the players who have been playing since elementary school, but she works as hard as anyone on the field. She helps anyone, and there isn’t anything she wouldn’t do for the team,” Netsch said. “Libby is one of our other really strong defenders. She and the two seniors were the core of our defense.”

In the past couple of season, the Warriors have lost several top-flight offensive players like Ally Ruel and Tory Rider to graduation or transfer. That has led to a bigger focus on preventing goals than on scoring them as an overall strategy.

“The thing is, I’ve been coaching lacrosse for 18 years now. You don’t replace an Ally Ruel. She’s a twice-in-a-career type of player. She’s probably the best player we have ever graduated, and Tori Ryder transferred to a private school,” said Netsch. “We’ve always tried to play strong defense as a team, but because we don’t have the offensive threats like we had, we’ve emphasized more defense. We play ball control and try to take our shots when we can.”

Valley has some good candidates to pick up some of the scoring slack on the attack in this year’s under-class athletes. The Warriors had plenty of sophomores who were ready to take the next step like Emi Bisson, Margaret Jacaruso, Leah Frantz, Madison Neviaser, Sage Lepore, Grace Haskins, Mia Alio, Taryn Frazier, and Salmi Miller.

“The sophomores are all really good athletes and fast. I expected a lot from all of them really. They all got the bugs out last year,” Netsch said. “Freshmen year, there is always trepidation being new to the school and team. We saw a lot of them grow last year. I think the whole group would have stepped into the role as varsity starters.”

The future of Valley girls’ lacrosse looks bright in that there is big interest from incoming freshmen the past two years. Coach Netsch believes that will continue thanks to youth lacrosse teams taking interest in the tri-town area and fostering young players before they get to high school. Next year, may feature an even smaller senior contingent than this year would have, but there should be a plethora of eager new players.

“I have a few key players I will count on to hold it together. I think there will be quite a few of this year’s freshmen playing as sophomores. Everybody is going to be challenging for a varsity position,” Netsch said. “There will be eight or nine positions on the varsity squad with something like 29 players vying for them. Lately, we’ve had a larger groups of experienced players that have played lacrosse competitively since they were little, and the longer the stick is in your hand the better you will get. Experience counts.”

Most impressive of all to Coach Netsch has been the way his senior group has handled themselves throughout the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has presented, which ultimately caused this lost season.

“We’ve struggled at times in the past four years, and I’m happy these seniors stuck with the team. It’s a testament to who they are as individuals, and I’m sure they will be successful in whatever they do in the future,” said Netsch. “They handled this situation so well, all three of them. It’s a difficult situation for everybody, and they’ve been really mature in how they’ve reacted to the problems that arose. They’re not happy about it, but nobody has control over it. We just have to do what we can and move forward.”