SPHS Girls Lacrosse Seniors Now College Bound

The word "powerhouse" describes theFalcons girl's lacrosse team. In the past four years, the team won three state titles. But it didn't happen by luck or happenstance. 

According to her players, coach Carin Peterson knows the game better than just about anybody else. But she also has a work ethic to produce winning teams and expects a lot from her players. She is not a molly coddling coach.  Instead she pushed her players to be the best every time they step on the field.

But having a great feeder system doesn't hurt. Because many of the girls have been playing since they were 5 years old and have moved on to the club level during the fall and summer months, Peterson had an incredible pool of talent to choose from.

But the biggest key to the success of this team is evident when speaking with the recently graduated seniors. This team is willing to work and work hard.

Crissy Gardner, mom to player Kendyl Gardner, said: "Most of the girls respond well to Carin.  She is tough but these girls take lacrosse very seriously and are willing to put in the work. It is good for them to learn it now because it college it almost becomes a job."

College coaches are well aware of the type of player the coach produces. They understand that whether they recruit a player from  Peterson's team or the player comes to tryouts for their team, they are getting an athlete who is used to working hard, doesn't need to have their hands held and will be able to walk on to a Division I team without missing a beat.

This spring the team put the frosting on the cake when they won the State Cup and redeemed their loss to South River last season.

Now that high school has ended, the 12 graduated seniors are moving on.  While Nell Bragdon, Danielle Hayden, Caroline Falvey and Kiersten Muhly will be forgoing the added stress of college lacrosse, eight will be going on to play.

Madison Thomas will be trying out for the Virginia Tech Cavaliers.  Madeline Ross and Kendyl Gardner are both heading to new lacrosse programs at San Diego State and High Point University respectively. 

Emily Walker, Rachel Mia and Elizabeth Barranco will be staying closer to home at Towson, George Washington University and Loyola.  Emily Mata will be playing at Boston College.  And after taking a year off to work on a project building homes, Laura Patterson will be heading to Louisville where she plans to play.

Though the girls are moving on, leaving the Falcons program behind, Peterson told me last fall, that she knows the memories they made here and the lessons they learned here will be with them for the rest of their lives.

"If I do my job right," Coach Peterson said, "These girls will leave the program after four years with lessons that will get them through life."

As a parent, it is this that really makes the team stand out.  As a parent, wins and losses   don't matter nearly as much as the lessons our children take away from the field.  When these twelve girls began playing lacrosse all those years ago, their parents did not sign them up so they could be part of a high school power house. 

They didn't sign them up so they could get scholarships to college or continue to play throughout their lives. They signed them up because of the lessons that are learned on the field.

Parents of Falcons lacrosse players watched their daughters receive their diplomas this spring with the knowledge that those lessons have been learned.  Their daughters have been armed with the lessons that carry them through college and beyond.

*Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of five names. We regret the errors. Fixing mistakes is important to us, if you see an error, please email leslie.hunt@patch.com.