The 2014 season kicked off Saturday with 9 games being played, and right off the bat there were already two games won by only one goal as well as one overtime win.

A Few Highlights From Saturday:

Polytech 7, Sussex Tech 6 OT:  Big start for Polytech.  Sophomore Kathryn Richardson recorded a hat trick, while Jamie Trabado scored the golden goal with less than a minute left of play in overtime.  Dorian Zimmerman recorded all but one of the Ravens six goals.


Cape Henlopen 7, Academy of Holy Cross (MD) 6:  Cape kicked off their season Saturday in the same style as 2013 - with a one goal win over a strong Holy Cross team.  As I mentioned in my season previews, Holy Cross was 0-2 going into the game, but their two losses were by the number 4 ranked team in Virginia by laxpower and 9th in the nation by Lacrosse Magazine, Sts. Stephens & Agnes, and a 10-11 loss to Archbishop Spalding, which plays in the very competitive IAAM conference in Maryland.  Karalyn Joseph scored the lucky number 7 game winner with just over 2 minutes left of play, while junior Sam Broadhurst came up big in the cage recording 13 saves.


St. Mark's 13, Middletown 8:  At St. Mark's, Madelyn Baker recorded 5 goals and 2 assists.  Morgen Moran added 4 goals and 1 assist.  Alexia Johnston, Alison Pantazes, Emily Pantazes, and Christina Gotthold all had two goals a piece for Middletown.



There's still plenty of games to be played this week, to help me out if you are attending any games please tweet updates and final scores to my twitter, @DELaxJournal or use the hashtag #degirlslax!

The first of the player stats should be up within the next few days, just need to find out first names for players on some teams.  The tournament rankings (if you're new here, I don't use a computer 'formula' like laxpower or other sites but rather the actual DIAA formula the tournament committee uses to come up with the rankings) don't really tend to take shape until at least every team has played 2 or 3 games, expect the first update of the season for this to possibly be around the end of the first week of April.

The last of the season previews conclude with the Henlopen Conference!

Henlopen

Caesar Rodney (10-5) - Last year CR was only one win away from making their first return to the tournament since 2008. Four starters graduated, but the blue riders keep their entire defense and all but one of their midfield line. Sophomore Kourtney Olsen (16, 15) will lead the midfield along with Jenna Rigby (27, 20). Sophomore Delaney Steele (44, 10) is the sole remaining attacker. Other key returnees include seniors Megan Webb (3, 5) and Kendall Olsen, junior Amber Pearson, and sophomore Madeleine Card.




Cape Henlopen (17-1) - Cape's seniors have lost a grand total of three regular season games over their three-year careers - all against out-of-state opponents. The Vikings graduated three seniors, including two All-Americans but return a powerful senior class led by first team all-stater Allie Yeager (31, 22), along with a strong supporting cast. Juniors Sarah Tappan (27, 10), Jordan Brown (26, 9), and Alexa Woodruff (12, 9)should all contribute considerably on the attack again. Two second team all-staters, Karalyn Joseph (20, 5) and Katherine Judge (16, 6) will be key in the midfield, while fellow second team all-stater Margaret Delp and first team all-stater Taylor Gooch will anchor the defense. Junior Samanha Broadhurst returns in the goal.


The Vikings kick their season off tomorrow at the Academy of Holy Cross (MD), who are already 0-2 on the season, one of which was against the 5th ranked team in Maryland. When Cape opened up the season last year against Holy Cross on their home turf, they won 9-8.




Dover (8-7) - Dover lost only 3 seniors from 2013's squad and attackers and midfielders in abundance. Senior attacker Graeleigh Lackey (18, 5) and mid Alyssa Forrest (16G) are the key Senators in 2014. Other verterans include Molly McCommons (4, 3) and Alexandria Crisco (2, 2) on attack, Paige Casto (6G) and Rachel Mills (1, 1) in the midfield. Seniors Mary Adkins and Kelly Conaway split time in the cage last season.




Polytech (13-2) - Polytech made lacrosse history in 2013 when they qualified for their first state tournament in what was only their third year as a varsity program and came only one goal shy of winning their first tournament game. Eleven seniors and six starters graduated from 2013's team - the 2014 Panthers will be very young, with only three seniors and largely supported by what was a very strong freshmen class last year for Coach of the Year Lynn Richardson. Returning starters include sophomore Kathryn Richardson (14, 15) along with senior Kristin Wissler (7, 9) on attack, sophomores Jamie Trabaudo (39, 19) and Morgan Cook (18, 4) in the midfield, sophomore Alison McKay returns as the one remaining defender in front of senior goalie Taylor Lyon. You can pencil in Allison Brown, Rachel Slater, Kaitlin Bergold, Caroline Hermance, and Colleen O'Brien to fill in the missing spots as needed.




Smyrna - The second of two new varsity programs this year, Smyrna kicks off their inaugural season with a bang when they host Polytech on Tuesday. The following Friday it's another rematch against Christiana - much like Smyrna's relative to the north, the Eagles also played Christiana varsity in 2013, their first year as a JV team and won 13-2.




Sussex Tech (12-4) - The Ravens qualified for their third consecutive tournament bid in 2013, but lost 8 seniors as well as a couple of underclassman that contributed a whopping 181 of their 231 goals!! 43 of the 50 remaining goals belongs to the only attacker to have survived graduation, Dorian Zimmerman (43, 7). Taylor Kvilhaug (6, 8) and Emma Spellman (1, 8) are the remaining mids. The defense should include Hannah Collins, Elizabeth Lockwood, Shanda Mann and Shelby Towers, with Taschiana Gibbs-Hughes returning in goal.

Good luck to all the teams that start their season tomorrow!! 

Catholic Conference

St. Mark's (5-10) - Numbers wise, St. Mark's is in great shape from graduation, losing only two seniors last May. Unfortunately for them though, that includes Haley Schweizer, the player of the year and state leader in both goals and points scored. The next leading goal scorer behind Haley Schweizer's 80 goals is Morgen Moran (22, 13) - no one else even hit double digits on last year's team. If St. Mark's wants to return as one of the elite eight they'll have to build up their attack to make up for losing Haley Schweizer's 80 goals.




Ursuline (12-5) - 2013 was a record year for the Ursuline raiders, who advanced to the state tournament as the number 5 seed after losing back-to-back one goal games to both Tatnall and Charter. A strong performance by 1st team all-state senior goalie Cecilia Cicone helped Ursuline turn around and win their own one goal game against Polytech and propelling them into the semis for the first time in school history.


Feffie Barnhill takes over the reigns of the program in 2014 and inherits six varsity starters and plenty more that saw playing time last year. Madeline Hughes (34, 14), Laura Hurff (13, 7) and Emily Blaszkow (13, 1) should return in the midfield and Brooke Schmuesser (18, 4) who saw plenty of time last year as an 8th grader should be a shoe-in for one of the open midfield spots. Lexi Goldberg, Conner Vorwick and Erin O'Doherty bring some experience to the defense. UA will need a new goalie to replace 5 year starter Cecilia Cicone.

Diamond State

Archmere (13-4) - The Auks graduated five starters, four field players (and their 88 goals) and a goalie from last years tournament team. Key returnees include seniors Katelyn Payne (26, 10), Alexa Spence (10, 3), Caroline Rath (4, 2) and Amanda Olsen. A trio of sophomores, Presley Conaty (6, 3) and Anna Baxter (6, 1) who started and Kennedy Murphy who helped out last year as freshmen should all contribute.




St. Thomas More (7-8) - The Ravens return goal scorers in abundance with seniors Lexi Petrosky (20, 10), Jena Wilson (22, 1), and Katlyn Camisky (19, 6), and helped out by sophomore Joanna Petrosky (8, 2).

Non-Conference

Caravel (9-6) - The Buccaneers had their best season yet in 2013 and returns all but two girls. New head coach Carolyn Thompson inherits two juniors and two freshmen from last year's team that together combined for 149 of the team's 211 goals. Abigail Reid (36, 37) and Isabel Orticelle (34, 5) are the two juniors, while freshmen Olivia Duarte (49, 20) and Lauren Phillips (30, 12) return after a strong start as only 8th graders.




Red Lion (3-12) - Red Lion had trouble finding the net in 2013, producing 70 less goals than in 2012 while goals allowed remained the same. Luckily, the Lions return all but one of the major goal scorers this year - junior Miriam Fieger (14G) will lead the pride, with help from classmates Taylor Holt (7, 2), Sydney Revell (3G) and sister Morgan Holt.

Part four, Henlopen Conference, will be up tomorrow!

Here is part two of the 2014 season sneak preview!

Independent Conference

Friends (6-9) - Friends missed the state tournament by just a hair in 2013, graduating only 4 seniors but lost long-time head coach Pigeon Graham, replaced by recent college grad and Wesley lacrosse player, Jessica Franklin. Franklin inherits a trio of high scoring juniors in Meryl Gatti (39, 11), Margo Tschantz (23, 16) and Molly Harper (20, 10) and an easier schedule with the drop of Germantown Friends (PA), Cape and Sussex Tech.




Sanford (2-13) - Sanford last had a winning lacrosse season back in 2009 (9-6) and only captured wins last year against A.I. and Glasgow, but could that all change with Anne Brooking as head coach? After 25 years at Wilmington Friends, Brooking took a Sanford 5-9-1 field hockey program not only to a 13-3-1 record the year she took over, but to the second round of the DIAA field hockey tournament in the fall. So can Brooking manage another complete turnaround of a program at Sanford? One thing is certain though - if the Warriors will want to compete in the competitive Independent conference, they'll have to rebuild their attack, with only junior Kelsey Mendell (19, 2) surviving graduation before they open up the season against Tower Hill on April 1st.




St. Andrew's (10-6) - The Cardinals graduated 7 starters last May, including the trio of Helen Cammerzell, Margaret Whiteman and Joan Oates that together combined for 138 of the team's 230 goals in 2013. A mix of 5 starters return in 2014, seniors Alysa Saliba (12, 11) and Sara Coyne (13, 3) on Attack and Ellen Copper returning in goal, and sophomores Louisa Belk (5, 1) and Neely Egan as the lone returning mid-fielder and defender.

After a one year hiatus, head coach Jen McGowan is back at the reigns. In her previous two years at St. Andrew's, McGowan took the Cardinals all the way to the championship game against Cape.




Tatnall (8-7) - Tatnall graduated only 1 senior from their 2013 roster, but two of their highest goal scorers, Shay Cannon (75, 13) and Jennifer Davis (54, 17) will not be playing this year. Instead they will have to rely on Margaret Crivielli (25, 14), Cynthia Sellar (14, 16) and Meredith Boardman (14, 12) to get goals up on the board for their team.




Tower Hill (14-4) - In 2013, Tower Hill advanced to the state final for the first time since they last won the 'ship back in 2008 - their 5th state title, the same amount as the current state powerhouse and one less than the current record holder St. Andrew's. The Hillers lost four 1st team All-Staters, including two All-Americans but should still do just fine in 2014. They'll have to do some re-building in their midfield, which was wiped out completely from graduation but returns all of their attack and defensive starters. Senior Alexandra du Pont (13, 2) returns on attack, with classmate Jaime Manlove on defense. Juniors Sawyer Chilton (14, 11) and Emma Lynch (15, 5) should continue to be solid on attack with Madeline Schwartz seeing time on defense. Sophomore Kiva Walsh (21, 7) should prove to be another offensive asset for Tower along with Ellie Wakefield.

If Tower Hill will want to possibly win their first state title in six years, they'll have to overcome their debilitating case of cyanophobia - for the last four years it has been Cape Henlopen who has ended Tower Hill's tournament run.





The quest for the Independent conference should be another two horse race, with defending champs Tower Hill holding off St. Andrew's challenge and Friends and Tatnall possibly competing for third.

Here is part one of a sneak preview of the upcoming girl's lacrosse season.

Blue Hen

Coaching wise, the Blue Hen conference looks very different this year with 6 out of its 11 teams with new head coaches and a new addition to the varsity ranks this year in Hodgson Vo-Tech.