Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
The confidence is high among the girls’ lacrosse players at Cots Neck High School.
A season ago, Colts Neck posted a 9-7 record and advanced to the semifinals of the Central Jersey, Group 3 state sectional tournament.
Colts Neck was eliminated in the state tournament by Notre Dame High School, 19-7. Notre Dame eventually won the Central Jersey, Group 3 sectional title.
Coach Christine Latteri felt that Colts Neck can be successful this spring if the Cougars execute properly.
“I think that we have a balanced team,” Latteri said. “We’re looking to do our very best every game. Take care of the ball. Go after some of our tougher competitors by really game planning and executing the game plans.”
Senior midfielder Maggie Diebold spoke of the confidence that the team carries into the season.
“We definitely want to win a lot of games,” Diebold said. “This team is really close, so we just have to keep the chemistry up and keep playing the way we’ve been playing in the preseason. We want to be able to defeat all of our tough competitors and hopefully, win our division.”
Latteri and Diebold realize what the Cougars must accomplish on the field to be competitive.
“I think that we just need to take it one game at a time,” Latteri said. “If we play great defense, stay successful on our draws, and just take advantage on our attack because we have a lot of girls that are capable of scoring.”
“We want to work together on both sides of the field,” Diebold said. “Work together to get those tough ground balls, when everyone is fighting for it. We need to take advantage of the other team’s dropped balls and their mistakes.”
Colts Neck will look for key contributions from senior captain Ally Largey, Camryn Allmers, Sarah Shaughnessy on offense, and Kassidy Stepnoski to lead the defense.
The Cougars were slated to their season on April 3 at Old Bridge High School.
