Maser, Tartans see bright future in girls lacrosse
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Julia Maser and the Stuart Country Day school lacrosse team took a big step forward this season.
The Tartans have won more games and played teams more evenly than a year ago despite starting a lineup half full of freshmen. Much of the credit can be attributed a strong group of sophomores like Maser growing more comfortable and confident.
”Hopefully in the years to come, we’ll up our record,” said Maser, who plays center for Stuart. “We still have freshmen and new players. It’s about experience now. Every game we get a little better. Every day we’re improving, but we still have a ways to go.”
The Tartans were scheduled to take on Lawrenceville in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament on Thursday. Stuart fell to Pennington, 17-9, in the Prep B quarterfinals Monday.
”It was a tough game,” said Stuart head coach Caitlin Grant after her team fell to 4-5. “One of our low defenders was hurt and then our center, Julia Maser, got hurt a couple minutes into the game. She went back in and wasn’t the same. She’s a great player, and she’s only a sophomore.”
Maser had her ankle taped and put on a brace. It would take a lot more than a sprained ankle to keep her off the field. The Monmouth Junction resident took up the game in third grade with the Lightning Lacrosse Select. She moved to the Garden State Elite, where current Notre Dame assistant coach Bob Henderson helped ignite a passion for the game in her. Now she plays for Ultimate Lacrosse, where her focus is more defensive as a defensive wing than her role with Stuart. Playing for the Tartans has helped her raise her level to be a top player at the varsity level.
”In general, I see the confidence,” Grant said. “With the confidence, there’s the attitude that I’m not going to wait for the senior to go to the ball; I’m going to take that on. She carries everything on her back. She makes it a point to be all over the field, offense and defense. She wants to be a part of every play. There’s not going to be a part of the game that she’s not in the vicinity of the ball. She’s getting herself in position to help her teammates or her go to goal or play defense. She’s vocal now. She wants to see the team grow as much as I do as a coach.”
Against Pennington, Maser and another sophomore Tori Hannah each finished with three goals and an assist apiece, Harley Guzman had two goals and one of the lone seniors on the team, Ami Hallowell, had a goal. Harlyn Bell made 10 saves in goal.
”I think we are much better than last year,” Maser said. “We have more wins this year. I think we did get some new freshmen that are very hard working and they’re determined to give it all they have. And our goalie, Harlyn, has improved much so over the summer. She’s on GSE. She’s been keeping us in some of these games, and I think that’s one of the reasons we have more wins this year.”
The Tartans are not exclusively about winning. With such youth, it’s about continuing to develop, but patiently waiting for that to happen can be tough for teenagers.
”They want to win now,” Grant said. “They have the hearts of seniors. I see tears on their face when they lose. They want it so bad. They know they’re close. They can feel it.”
The Tartans have had 10 different goal scorers this year, even a player like Tina Lu, who just took up the game this year. Across the board, they have seen improvement in their team through the season.
”I think it would probably lie in our passing and catching,” Maser said. “I feel that our attack has gotten much stronger. Tori Hannah has been leading our team in assists (with 34). She’s assisted a majority of my goals. We’ve gotten better at seeing the passes and making them that much sooner.”
Draw controls and transition defense have been points of emphasis for the Tartans this year. The Tartans need to see continued development in their skills as they look ahead to next year. This season gave the freshmen much needed experience, but it can’t be the end of their growth until next year.
”The biggest problem with us as a team is a lot of our girls come in as freshmen having never played lacrosse before,” Grant said. “The only way we can compete with these teams is if they take these steps to play outside of Stuart. They have to get together and play. Otherwise we don’t have the time to catch up to girls that have been playing for 10-plus years.”
Said Maser: “As a team, including myself, we have a long way to go. I can see we have a lot of potential and in the years to come.”
Stuart’s players need to continue to develop their stick skills, and they need to continue to improve as passers and catchers and defenders. They took a big step forward this year, and they want that to continue.
”It’s a big improvement from last year,” Grant said. “The freshmen that are now sophomores, are confident. They aren’t looking to give the ball up quite as quickly. Now they’re looking to go to goal and put the pressure on themselves. And they look to each other now as key players. They look to themselves as opposed to looking to juniors and seniors.”
Maser and the Tartans feel that they will be back stronger and more confident in every phase of the game next year. As soon as this season ends, Maser will begin gearing up for next year and the chance to have an even greater impact across the field.
”I want to be personally a complete player, all the way from the offensive to the defensive spectrum,” she said. “With my club team, I’ll be focusing on defense. I’ll hopefully come back stronger on defense so I can help. I really want to come back a complete player and strengthen my offensive and defensive abilities. I want to make more plays. I want to make more plays with Tori and Sam Servis. But mainly I want to be able to inspire my team and get them to compete to their full potential because I know we have it in us. I want to be able to inspire and lead my team next year.”
Maser knew the challenge from Lawrenceville in the MCT would be tough, but her hope was that the Tartans would play well enough to know that next year they will have an even better chance to knock off the higher caliber programs.
”I’m happy with the way things are progressing and developing,” Maser said. “I personally realize we’re a young team and have so much potential to grow. I think we’re headed in the right direction.”