By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
No player is bigger than the plan.
The Allentown High School girls lacrosse team recites its motto before games, and Maddy Collins is living proof of the sacrifices the Redbirds are making to get better.
Collins is going to La Salle University next year, where she is slated to play attacking midfield. She’s been an attacking midfielder for Allentown for three years as well, and was the first player in program history to score 100 goals last year.
”Now I’m playing midfield, but more defensive minded,” Collins said. “It’s so different. Everything is really focused on the team as a whole.”
The Redbirds are starting to get it. After five straight losses – the last three by one goal apiece — Allentown knocked off Princeton High and then handed West Windsor-Plainsboro North its first loss of the season, 15-12, Saturday.
”It was huge,” said Collins, who had a goal in the win. “It was so, so big. Not only were they undefeated, but we were in a slump for a while. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”
Especially for Collins and the senior class, who are winding down their scholastic careers. They head into the final month excited about their potential. They were scheduled to take on Robbinsville on Tuesday, host Northern Burlington on Friday and then open the Mercer County Tournament at Notre Dame, a team they lost to, 19-14, to start this season.
”Seeing how we’ve come toward the end of the season, it made us want to win more,” Collins said. “It’s so heartbreaking losing so many games in a row. We want to win so badly. We want to give it our all and come out successful.”
Allentown trailed WW-P North, 8-6, at halftime, but rallied with a big second half. Alex Moore finished with six goals and two assists. Ali Bulk and Juliana Valesi each scored twice. Sara Hanley, Courtney Chandonnet and Katie Smith all joined Collins with one goal apiece. Nicole Gerling made 10 saves to preserve the win.
”We work on having multiple goal scorers,” said Allentown’s first-year head coach Mary Ellen McCarthy. “We work toward having multiple plays so we are a multi-dimensional team.”
Collins likes what spreading out the scoring more does for the Redbirds. She is seeing a team that is more diverse and more difficult to contain.
”I think it’s a harder thing to ask one or two girls to be the main goal scorers,” she said. “If the other team picks up on it, it’s easier for them to shut them down.”
The Redbirds have shown growth through the season as they adapt to the new emphasis brought by McCarthy.
”The way our team was organized, one person would just take it down the middle and shoot,” Collins said. “This year, it’s all about transition and passing. Everyone is looking for the open person and passing, which is so different. It’s really good.”
The Redbirds put together their finest performance of the season to knock off WW-P North. It was a signature win for the program, which did beat the Knights last year as well.
”Our first couple of games, I’m new as their head coach and we have a lot of new kids to varsity, and it takes a while to learn where everyone goes,” McCarthy said. “It takes a while to implement the plan and it takes a while for the girls to follow it. In our first couple games, we had a lot of girls playing individually and not as a team. Now we’re clicking as a team.”
Added Collins: “I’m just relieved to get to that point. We do have a young team. We have five captains and six seniors. We have so many sophomores and four really talented freshmen. We knew we had so much talent, and it’s a relief that it’s finally come together.”
Collins has never seen the team as focused as it was in the practices leading up to the win over WW-P North. Now the Redbirds need to keep that focus as they go forward while building on a couple wins.
”It’s the constant challenge,” McCarthy said. “We’re challenging the girls to learn and grow from the game before. They want to be successful and they want to challenged, and they’re ready to step up to the challenge.
”I’m happy with the progress so far,” she added. “I hope that things just continually improve as the season progresses. We have a lot of season left. We still have the Mercer County Tournament and the state tournament. We’re going to see each team one more time.”
The Redbirds are approaching those rematches a lot differently from the past. The standards have changed plenty for Collins and her class since they arrived at Allentown.
”They’ve seen it change from when they were freshmen to now,” McCarthy said. “When they played Hopewell, Hopewell would just pummel them.”
As freshmen, they lost by 16 and 14 goals in two meetings with Hopewell. This year, they were disappointed with their one-goal loss to Hopewell.
It’s helped to have established players like Collins so willing to sacrifice and change for the team.
”She’s just a solid, solid kid,” McCarthy said.
Collins had no problem in accepting her new role.
”It’s for the good of the team,” she said. “I don’t even mind it that much. Little things like that show how much our team has changed.”
The recent wins show it’s changed for the better. Now the Redbirds get their chance to avenge some heart-breaking losses from earlier in the year, including another big showdown in the MCT on Saturday.
”I’m glad we play all of them twice,” Collins said. “It’s like redemption to be able to come back. We just have to keep the train rolling.”

