Pirate girls’ lacrosse win mirrors season
By: Bob Nuse
For the West Windsor-Plainsboro High South girls’ lacrosse team, Wednesday’s 11-7 win over Stuart was a lot like its entire season. Slow in starting, but pretty nice once it got going.
"As soon as we got down a little, we picked it back up," said senior Meagan Fitzgerald, who scored a pair of goals as the Pirates improved to 4-3 on the season with the win. "I thought we played a lot better in the second half. We knew it was going to be a tough game because Stuart is a good team. At halftime, we said we needed to play better in the second half and we did."
The Pirates broke open a 4-4 tie at the half and were able to come away with their third win in their last four games. The fact that they’re finally able to play with some regularity has helped South. After opening the season with a 16-14 win over Hopewell Valley on April 2, the Pirates did not play another game until April 21, when they dropped an 18-5 decision to WW-P North.
"It was tough because we had games cancelled because of the weather and not being able to get officials," said Fitzgerald, who will attend Howard University next year, where she plans to play lacrosse. "I thought the Hopewell game was one of the best games we’ve ever played. But then we didn’t play again for three weeks. But now we’ve started to get to play and I think we’re coming together as a team."
After slipping to 1-2 with a loss to Lawrenceville, the Pirates have rebounded with wins over Hun, Watching Hills and Stuart.
"We’ve become a pretty tight team," said Fitzgerald, who leads the Pirates with 16 goals this season. "The team has bonded and gotten a lot closer. We’ve talked about how we want to do well and go into states and play well. We’ve become focused.
"Our season has been like this game today. We started a little slow and then we picked it up. We had a nice win over Hun, which is always a good team. And Stuart is a good team and we beat them. We also have some other tough games coming up, like (Princeton Day School), that should be a good game."
Unlike a year ago, when the Pirates relied on Gio Buono to do most of their scoring, this year’s team has been much more balanced. Fitzgerald leads the team with 16 goals, while Rashanna Edwards, Jess Sherding, Natalie Deschamps and Keri Denaro all have at least 10 goals. Last year, Buono finished the season with 60 goals, which was more than twice what anyone else on the team scored.
"We’re pretty balanced," said Fitzgerald, whose 28 goals were second on the team last year. "Last year we had Gio and she carried our offense. This year we have a lot of different people who can score. Jess, Rashanna, Keri, they can all score. To me, it’s not about who scores. It’s not about the goals, but the opportunities. If I can make a pass that lets someone else score, I’m happy.
"Today I scored a couple goals, Jess scored, Keri scored, Amy (Skapyak) has three goals. So we have different people who are capable of scoring goals."
Fitzgerald hopes that balance leads to an extended post-season this year. She’d like this season to last a while before she starts to think about next year at Howard.
"That should be fun," she said. "It’s going to be a challenge. I have to start my summer workouts right after the season is over. I know I’m going to have to work hard to bring my game to a higher level."
This year that’s something all of the Pirates have had to do. And they’ve been doing it even better once they’ve gotten a chance to play.
Stuart, which was scheduled to face Montclair Kimberley in the state Prep A tournament on Thursday, received three goals apiece from Tracy Statter and Pam Long.

