Girls Lacrosse
By: Matt Nalbone
Over the past few years, one of the more successful programs at Hopewell Valley Central High School has been the girls lacrosse team.
Head coach Sara Wagner will be in her fifth year as the varsity leader and has had solid teams throughout.
The 2001 team finished with a 12-5 record and made it to the round of eight in the state tournament. The Lady Bulldogs would lose, 13-7, to Summit after posting two wins including a 11-6 victory over West Essex in the North B semifinal.
The 2002 version has a large senior population, including eight starters in important positions.
Gone from the team last year are midfielder Katie Carroll and attackman Caryl Yakich, with Carroll’s loss leaving a huge gap in the middle of the field.
"She was a four-year starter who knew our defense," Wagner said. "Katie was quick, fast and could shoot, and her checking was controlled, but effective."
Leading the way this year will be the Lady Bulldogs’ three senior captains midfielders Kaley Bell and Abby Brewster and goalie Sue Bielamowicz.
Also expecting to contribute in a big way will be five more seniors, including midfielder Amanda Bradshaw, attackman Melissa Conley, Megan Hagerty on defense, and Jessie Prewitt and Kaity Ryan at midfield.
Joining them on the roster will be juniors Katie DiBiase (defense), Caitlin Lane (attack), Alissa Molinelli (midfield) and midfielder Allison Moriarty.
Sophomores Shirah Hamor and Beth Hagerty will also see a lot of varsity time.
"One of our goals this year will be to go a little further than we did last year," Wagner said. "The kids were counting the days to the start of the season after last year’s loss in the states.
"At the moment it is not known how we will replace Katie (Carroll). She had great leadership skills but we have three tremendous captains who will do a great job."
The team will rely on Conley, Brewster and Lane do to the majority of its scoring, but also feature a balanced attack that could see goals from several players.
Wagner expects Bielamowicz to be solid in goal once again, giving the coach one less thing to worry about.
"Sue has been a three year starter for us," Wagner said. "She’s looking confident and coming out of her crease more. She is a big part of out defense."
Although the upperclassmen dominate the roster, it has still been a learning process for everyone.
"It is definitely a senior dominated team," said Wagner, "but they have been working with the younger players and having a lot of patience with them."
After six scrimmages, the regular season got under way this past Tuesday with a game against West Windsor-Plainsboro South.
Hopewell jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the half and built that to a 8-2 advantage before cruising to a 12-7 win to kick off the season.
Conley led the way, scoring one goal and handing out four assists, while Brewster scored three times and Lane scored twice.
Bradshaw also picked up two goals and an assist as Bell, Ryan, Moriarty, and Hamor had one score each. Molinelli had an assist as did Ryan and Moriarty.
Bielamowicz made 10 saves to pick up her first win of the year.
"We worked our kinks out and got over the first game jitters," Wagner said. "We seemed a bit unsure of ourselves in the first five minutes and had some dropped balls, but Sue played great and kept us in the game early."
Hopewell (1-0) will continue the regular season with a game at Peddie on Friday and West Windsor-Plainsboro North at home next Tuesday.