Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
The spring season proved to be a memorable one for the coaches and players on the Monroe Township High School girls’ lacrosse team.
Monroe coach Carly Welsh spoke about this special spring that she experienced with this group of girls.
“A lot,” Welsh said about what she will remember about the season that came to an end when Monroe fell to Princeton High, 17-8, in the Central Jersey, Group 4 state semifinals on May 21 in Princeton.
Welsh continued to talk about the team after the loss to Princeton. The defeat left the Falcons with a final record of 16-6.
“Mainly positives. The team already made it to the semis and state sectionals for the first time since I’ve been here. So, that’s incredible. They’ve won their conference for the second year in a row. Again, something that’s never been done before. Going into today, we worked hard, but you can tell we had some butterflies. We were a little nervous, and it showed. We came out strong in the second half, but you need a full game to win in the state tournament.”
The Falcons will move forward without some key senior players but help is on the way.
“We’re losing a lot of girls,” Welsh reported. “Actually 10 seniors. But, we have a really talented freshman class that will be moving up to varsity next year. So, it’s going to be fun and interesting next year.”
One of those seniors who will be sorely missed is Ashley Patten.
Patten, who played on the attack, finished her sparkling career with 136 goals, 48 assists, 184 points, 16 face-offs won and 92 ground balls.
Patten also expressed her fondness of this 2018 season.
“This was my favorite year playing,” Patten said. “We worked really hard. We made school history by making it here. Even though the score didn’t reflect what we want, we worked really hard on and off the field.”
Patten will attend Penn State in the fall where she hopes to continue playing on a club team at the university.
For next year, Welsh has already targeted a few girls who she will lean on next spring.
“Key contributors will probably include Liz Skobelev,” Welsh said. “She’s going to be a senior next year. Our younger [freshman] players, we have Nyla McCloskey, Kayley Battoglia, Celia Braswell, Rosie Regan, the list goes on, and on.”
