OCEAN CITY – “It’s kind of an oxymoron. We are young but we are experienced.”
That’s how Ocean City High School girls lacrosse coach Lesley Graham describes her 2022 team.
The Red Raiders are returning a number of players with varsity experience but the team is equally balanced between upperclassmen and underclassmen. She has five seniors, four juniors, six sophomores and three freshmen on varsity.
“We have a ton of potential. Our attack is bringing back a lot of our strong scorers,” Graham said. The team will again spread its attack around, in spite of losing three girls who led the attack last year – Alexis Smallwood, Chelsea Stack and Summer Reimet. Smallwood and Stack graduated in 2021 and Reimet, a senior this year, graduated early so she could head to Monmouth University this spring where she is on a soccer scholarship. Reimet was one of the best soccer players in the state last year.
The team is youngest on defense, having lost a few defenders to graduation and having a sophomore, Presley Greene, in goal.
“If we have a weak spot, I’d say it’s on the defensive side of the ball,” she said. “The girls have been working really hard. The girls have been getting after it every day and understanding that how hard we work in practice is going to pay off, whether in games in April or in May.”
On the attack, Graham knew she’d be losing Smallwood and Stack, but Reimet graduating gave her an unexpected spot to fill. That gives her an opportunity to place another kid into the lineup.
Senior captains Olivia Vanesko and Allie Leeds will lead the attack with fellow senior captain Racheli Levy-Smith, who will play both attack and midfield, depending on the matchup.
“Racheli is going on to play lacrosse at Division I Holy Cross next year so she has really bought in and is really focused this spring to hone her skills and help her team prepare during her final year before going of the college,” Graham said.
The Red Raiders have six returning midfielders, which she said is awesome for the depth.
She can switch out entire three-player midfield lines and not miss a beat.
“No matter which line goes in there isn’t a drop in play,” she said. “All six of them are very strong players on both sides of the ball and that’s helpful for us. We’re not relying on one or two people to keep us in games.”
The midfielders include Levy-Smith, junior Maddie Wenner and four sophomores – Delaney Sutley, Kelsea Cooke, Gracie Pierce and Breanna Fabi.
Senior Carly Hanin is anchoring the defense and Graham is excited to get senior Taylor Wenner, who hasn’t played since her freshman year. She missed her sophomore year because COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season and was out her junior year with an ACL injury.
Wenner “hasn’t played lacrosse since freshman year, but you would never know it. She hasn’t skipped a beat. She’s aggressive and she’s working hard. She looks good out there. We’re excited to have her back on the field,” Graham said. Andi Helphenstine also will be an anchor on defense as will Maddy Monteleone and some freshmen who are vying for a starting spot or at least significant playing time.
Greene won the starting goalie position at the end of last season, but the only issue for the team is she is the only goalie. There isn’t a JV goalie at the moment but some junior varsity athletes are stepping up to try to fill that role and provide a backup should Greene need one.
Graham said the Cape-Atlantic League lineup the team faces seems to change each season. They will be facing, among others, Mainland Regional, Millville, Egg Harbor Township and Atlantic City, and there will be a CAL lacrosse tournament.
“We’re playing some new teams which should be exciting and will have a CAL tournament this year, which should be interesting. We’ve also scheduled some tough non-conference competition to prep us for group and state playoffs, hopefully,” she said.
The girls open their season today (Wednesday) at home at 4 p.m. hosting Absegami at the Tennessee Avenue field. The girls are at powerhouse Moorestown Friday and host Mainland at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 6, on the artificial turf at Carey Stadium.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff