Henlopen Conference
Caesar Rodney (6-10) - Caesar Rodney, despite
dropping nine losses in the regular season found itself as the number 10 seed
in the state tournament, thanks in large part to their very strong strength of
schedule. The Riders came close to
earning their first tournament win since 2004, but fell short by only two goals
to Wilmington Friends. The Riders
graduated six seniors, but their main advantage in the 2016 season is retaining
the powerhouse scoring duo of seniors Delaney Steele (72G, 8A) and Kourtney
Olsen (45G, 22A) - together, the two seniors scored a combined 117 out of the
team's 184 goals. Also returning for the
Riders are seniors Jenna Rigby (27G, 10A) and Maegan Stewart (9G, 3A) in the
midfield, sophomore Kacie Cava (12G, 1A) on attack, and senior Madeleine Card
on defense. Returning for one more
season between the pipes is senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Longest.
Caesar Rodney opens up their season at Charter on Tuesday, March 22nd.
Cape Henlopen (14-4) - Cape Henlopen extended
their consecutive in-state winning streak to 84 games on May 26th last year
when they defeated Polytech to earn their seventh straight state
championship. All four of Cape's losses
have come from strong out of state opponents - Queen Anne's County (MD);
Stephen Decatur (MD), who had an almost perfect season last year, having its
undefeated record snapped in the Maryland MPSSAA 3A/2A state final game;
Worcester Prep (MD); and Bishop Ireton (VA).
This year, Bishop Ireton is out and St. Mary's, a school that competes
in the competitive IAMM in Maryland is in.
Six seniors graduated from last year's squad, including leading goal scorer and
current Hofstra player Sarah Tappan (91G, 14A), Lexi Woodruff (41G, 30A), and
Jordan Brown (32G, 15A) on attack, Temple player Taylor Gooch (2G, 2A) and
Coryn Cannon on defense, as well four year starter and goalie, Sam
Broadhurst. 2016's team is fairly young,
carrying only four seniors (would be senior attacker Cam Wick is missing from
this year's roster) - Temple commit Lizzie Frederick (38G, 36A), Tess
Bernheimer (9G, 7A), Alison Palmer (2G), and Elizabeth Lockwood a transfer from
Sussex Tech. Cape also received
sophomore Victoria Lockwood (scored 24G, 10A at ST) as a transfer this year, as
well as Evelyn Shoop from Severn School in Maryland, a junior who is verbally
committed to Florida.
Key returners on attack include junior Cailey Thornburg (20G, 8A), Korinne
LeMaire (2G), and sophomore Katie Frederick (4G, 1A). In the midfield, junior Katie Klabe (14G,
8A), as well as sophomore Annie Judge (3G, 2A) should return, and juniors Sarah
Hyde and Sarah Rambo on defense. Junior
Iseabal Cryne is tasked with replacing the very talented Sam
Broadhurst.
Cape still has plenty of experience, but might this be the year that the
Viking's in-state unbeaten streak finally be broken? An intact Polytech will get a stab at it at
the Panther's turf on April 20th.
Dover (10-5) - Dover is coming off one of their
best season's in school history, and lost only one senior in the offseason to
graduation. A solid nucleus of goal
scorers returns in senior Ave Burleigh (25G, 5A), junior Mira Prisco (36G,
11A), and sophomores Grace Gast (25G, 4A) and Cydney Barnes (18G, 7A). Stephanie Blakely is the new head
coach.
Dover needs to improve its strength of schedule if they want to make it into
the tournament - last season it was very weak, playing only five teams with a
winning record. Adding Charter to their
schedule was a step in the right direction, but dropping Caravel doesn't do
them any favors. Dover opens up their
season at home vs Cape Henlopen on Wednesday, March 23rd.
Indian River - One of four new varsity programs
this year, Indian River moves up in the ranks after one year as a JV program,
where the Indians went 8-0-1 in their inaugural season. Leading the varsity program this year is
first year head coach Kelsea Ayers, a 2015 Ohio State graduate where Ayers was
a member of the div. 1 women's lacrosse team.
The Indians will kick off their first varsity season at Polytech on Wednesday,
March 23rd.
Polytech (15-2) - Lynn Richardson is another
coach in Delaware that has done wonders for a program in a short amount of
time. Polytech's girls lacrosse program only began six years ago, in 2010 -
since then, Coach Richardson has brought her Panthers to the state tournament
consistently for the past three seasons. First round jitters in 2013 and 2014
caused the Panthers to be upset by the lower seed, but finally in 2015
experience paid off as the Panthers finally earned their first tournament win,
riding that wave all the way to the state finals. Pretty impressive for a team
that is only entering its sixth varsity season.
The Panthers graduated only four seniors from last year's state finalist team. Returning this year as seniors are last
year's Player of the Year, Ali McKay (104G, 19G - Bloomsburg, field hockey)
along with Jamie Trabaudo (68G, 18A - UNC lacrosse) in the midfield, Kathryn
Richardson (17G, 32A) on attack, and Kaitlin Bergold on defense. Sophomores Madi McKay (46G, 14A) returns on
attack and Shannon Stephan in goal.
Polytech's first game of the season is home against Indian River on Wednesday,
March 23rd.
Smyrna (6-7-1) - Smyrna finished its second
year of varsity lacrosse 6-7-1. The
Eagles were commanding against weaker Blue Hen teams, and held their own
against tougher competition. Key returnees
include a quartet of senior scorers in Shabnam Norozzi (33G, 3A), Alison Sayers
(22G, 10A), Allison Wheatley (21G, 5A), and Madeline Price (20G, 5A).
Sussex Academy - Another one of the four new
programs, Sussex Academy joins the ranks of varsity programs after a year as a
JV program. The Seahawks are carrying an
astounding 27 girls on their varsity roster, all of whom are between 8th -
10th.
Sussex Tech (8-7) - In 2014, Sussex Tech came
within two spots of making the state tournament for the fourth straight year. 2015 follows the same story - after improving
their record to 8-7, the Ravens missed the tournament for a second straight
year by .08th of a point.
This year, Sussex Tech has to replace six seniors that supplied 115 of the
teams 178 goals, as well as a few underclassmen that are missing from 2016's
roster. Junior Madison Bada (23G, 9A) is
the lone remaining goal scorer, senior Jordan Ensley looks to be the goalie.
