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07/02/2020 12:00 AMBrianna Shaw played a huge part in the success of the Branford girls’ lacrosse team during the course of her high school career, helping the Hornets claim back-to-back Class M state championships in her freshman and sophomore seasons. This year, Brianna was ready to lead Branford as a senior captain after previously holding that role with the Hornets’ field hockey team.
Brianna earned plenty of accolades in her final season with both of her squads, including All-SCC First Team and All-State First Team honors. Last spring, Brianna scored her 100th goal with the lacrosse team as a junior, ultimately finishing with 106 goals for her career.
While those accomplishments mean a lot to Brianna, nothing could match the excitement of winning a state title, let alone two. Brianna and her lacrosse team were looking to make another memorable run this year until COVID-19 caused the season to be canceled.
“I honestly wasn’t expecting to get those awards, but I was really happy when my coaches told me that,” Brianna says. “I still see this moment clearly in my head from when we won my sophomore year. When the buzzer went off, I saw all of my friends and like 60 kids jump the fence and run on to the field with the music playing over the loudspeaker. That moment was so surreal and in slow motion. Ever since that game, I’ve always wanted to feel that again, especially this year. I wanted to be on the state championship field again.”
As a freshman, Brianna was thrown into the spotlight during the Hornets’ playoff run after one of her teammates suffered an injury. With her freshman year feeling like a whirlwind, Brianna was happy for the opportunity to savor the moment when Branford won its second-straight state championship in her sophomore season.
“I really didn’t think I was going to play freshman year. The state final game was really surreal for me. There was a huge fan section. All the parents were there. We had fan buses. Even warmups felt overwhelming, seeing all the people and knowing how important the game was,” says Brianna. “After the first five minutes of the game, I was able to block everyone out and just play to the best of my ability. My sophomore year, it was more comfortable for me. I played with the girls for a year. I knew how to play and adapt to their level.”
Brianna started her lacrosse career as a midfielder, but had to switch to attacker early in her high school career due to a talented group of players who were already entrenched at the midfielder position. After spending her first two years on the attack, Brianna moved back into the midfield for her junior campaign.
“I actually started playing lacrosse in 7th grade. I was a bit late to the party. I played midfield in youth in 7th and 8th. Freshman year, I saw how strong the midfield was, so I knew if I was going to get playing time, I was going to have to adjust my position,” Brianna says. “My first two years, we had very good team and a very a good midfield line. My coach said that she saw potential in me as a midfielder, and it worked out.”
As an attacker, Brianna was always hunting for scoring opportunities for both herself and her teammates. That type of mentality made Brianna a nice fit in the midfield.
“I usually get my goals off the draw. I’m the one that takes the draw,” says Brianna. “A lot of the time, I’ll do a self-draw and take it down the field. If I have the opportunity, I’ll take it, but usually, I pass it off to someone else.”
Head Coach Jackie Ceccolini not only saw Brianna’s potential as a midfielder, but also as a leader. Brianna says that the support she received from the midfielders who preceded her—especially Autumn McHenry and Sophie Spencer—helped her become the player she is today and the kind of leader the Hornets could have relied upon this year.
“I definitely owe a lot to our former midfielders. Sophie Spencer was my mentor. When I messed up, she didn’t yell at me,” Brianna says. “I was a captain this year. I was really excited about it. I was excited to be a part of the leadership that had gone through Branford.”
Coach Ceccolini wishes that she had the chance to see Brianna take the field in her senior season. Branford had high hopes of getting back to the Class M state final this year, and Ceccolini knows that Brianna was going to be a key factor in that quest.
“Brianna is just an all-around great athlete and person. She was one of the leaders of the team this season, even through the COVID situation. She had everyone organized in the offseason conditioning. She’s just a great player,” says Ceccolini. “Getting her in the midfield, we were looking to her to fill that spot, and she put in the time to make that happen. She barely came off the field for us. With her, we didn’t skip a beat in the midfield. She worked so hard to get there.”
Brianna also saw plenty of success as a member of the Branford field hockey team, benefiting from the expertise of her mother Suzanne, a former field hockey player at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU). Later this year, Brianna will be attending SCSU to play lacrosse, while also following in her father Doug’s footsteps by majoring in sports management.
Brianna feels that playing field hockey had a positive impact on her lacrosse skills during her time at Branford High School.
“I also started playing field hockey in 7th grade. My mom played in college at Southern, and she had a big role in getting me to play. I played all over the field, but mostly as a forward my first three years. This past year, I played a little bit of midfield and forward,” Brianna says. “Because of my experience in field hockey, when there’s a ground ball in lacrosse, I can usually get it. Ground balls are usually good for me, because I have the hand-eye coordination from field hockey.”
Even though she didn’t get to play her last year of lacrosse at Branford, Brianna and many of her Hornets’ teammates are taking the field this summer as part of the Dream League, a free statewide league for high school players that was created by the James Vick Foundation. Brianna will be competing for the Branford Sting in the 10-team league. While it won’t be quite the same as playing for her hometown high school, Brianna thinks that participating in the Dream League might just be the next-best thing.
“We had a good run. Our goal was to win states this year, so now we have a chance to win a championship in this league,” says Brianna. “That’s our goal.”