PLUMSTED: Promising start for Warriors girls lacrosse

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   Cortney Natalicchio has enjoyed greater success with each season in her junior year at New Egypt High School.
   If that trend continues, the Warriors girls lacrosse team is in for quite a season.
   ”I hope so,” said Natalicchio, who plays the attack wing spot. “It’s probably the best group of girls we’ve had in a long time.”
   Natalicchio and the Warriors got off to a promising start with a 14-8 win over Holy Cross on Friday.
   ”We were really happy,” said Natalicchio, who had four goals and five assists. “I think it was the first time we beat Holy Cross in about seven years. Since anybody who’s been on the team, we definitely haven’t beaten Holy Cross. It felt good to go out and beat them.
   ”We just kind of clicked well. Compared to scrimmages, we started playing better as a team. We hit cutters and knew where each other were on the field. And our defense did a good job.”
   Natalicchio’s nine-point day showed no rust from missing the first couple days of lacrosse practice while helping the New Egypt girls basketball team win their first Central Jersey Group I championship.
   ”I had four of the basketball players out,” said Warriors lacrosse coach Katie Nicholson. “I was missing them for the start of preseason. Basketball was interfering. As painful as it was to not have them, I was cheering them on. I didn’t want them to come back without a sectional title.”
   In the fall, Nicholson had coached the field hockey team that earned the top seed for CJ I, but lost in overtime in the sectional semifinals. Natalicchio was also a part of that squad that finished 16-3 and experienced plenty of success. Enjoying success in each season has only pushed her to want more in her favorite sport, lacrosse.
   ”They crave having the same feelings from in the past,” Nicholson said. “Whether it’s in basketball or however they got it. I want them to have it. I think it’s very advantageous to have kids that play multiple sports. You learn so much playing different sports. Lacrosse is a lot of basketball with cutting, getting open, all those thing filter over.”
   Natalicchio feels her other sports help prepare her for lacrosse, but she spent weekends during basketball season brushing up on her stick skills at clinics to be ready for the spring. She brings the intangible chemistry from having worked together in other sports.
   ”Playing with those girls for more than one season, you get a connection with them,” Natalicchio said. “You’re able to play any sport better with them.”
   Natalicchio goes from being one of the role players on the basketball court into being a feature player on the lacrosse field.
   ”I don’t really care about the attention,” Natalicchio said. “I care about the team. I had five assists (Friday). That made me really happy. Being a point guard in basketball helped me with that.”
   Natalicchio can do a lot of things on the lacrosse field. It’s what makes her so valuable to the Warriors.
   ”She had a slow start,” Nicholson said. “She’s a 100-point scorer in her freshman and sophomore years. They know she’s one of our go-to players. One of her goals was to increase her assists. She had five of those. I though it was excellent she could contribute like that.
   ”I don’t like to put pressure on her, but I think she’s one of the best pressure players I’ve ever coached. Not just my coaching, but when I played. She does great under pressure. I’ve seen her score under great pressure, and make up a deficit. I don’t put it on her, but she does a great job with it.”
   New Egypt has plenty of firepower with senior midfielder Nicole Coyne, who is part of a terrific combination with Natalicchio. Coyne had four goals in Friday’s win. Gianna Andreula is a capable scorer in the midfield who had three goals and two assists against Holy Cross. Katelyn Buschoff, Shelby Brevogel and Karly Ossowski all had goals in Friday’s game. Bridgette Buckalew had an assist.
   ”I think we have a lot of girls who are dedicated to lacrosse,” Natalicchio said. “They put a lot of time in it. We all connect together. We noticed that in the first game.
   ”I think we’re pretty good end to end. That’s going to make it a better year for us this year.”
   Natalicchio is just looking to fill her role this year. A year older and now one of the veterans as a three-year starter, Natalicchio is comfortable in what she’s bringing to the team.
   ”It’s pretty similar to what I did last year,” she said. “My coach tried to help me control the offense and make sure everyone is running the play and knows what’s going on and try to be a leader out on the field.”
   She is starting to look at college choices, either Division I for lacrosse or she could look at playing field hockey and lacrosse for a Division III school.
   ”Even last year, I already started talking to colleges,” Natalicchio said. “I’m hoping by the end of the summer to decide. I’ve always wanted to play lacrosse in college.”
   She’s one of the feature players that has returned for an experienced Warriors squad. With so much back, expectations have raised for the Warriors, who were 10-8 last year, and 6-6 in the ultra-competitive Burlington County Scholastic League that is full of bigger schools.
   ”Definitely, I think our goals have been a lot higher,” Natalicchio said. “We only lost one senior from last year. We really have the same team. We have our goals set a lot higher. We want to do well in division with Holy Cross, Rancocas Valley, Cinnaminson and Moorestown.”
   Said Nicholson: “For the team purposes, we didn’t lose much of our depth, and we gained a really good bench. In years past, we rarely made substitutions. I’m more confident that I could put anyone in. Everyone contributed in one way or the other (Friday).”
   It was a promising start going into Wednesday’s scheduled game with Rancocas Valley, and proved that the Warriors have the talent on offense and defense to compete with anyone in their division.
   It’s already been a big year for Natalicchio with field hockey and basketball. Now, it’s finally lacrosse season and her chance to be a part of something even bigger.
   ”If they’ve had success,” Nicholson said, “they want to have it again.”