OCEAN CITY – The Ocean City High School girls lacrosse team put its newly constituted team to the test Saturday, facing a tough out-of-state competitor in Villa Maria Academy.
The girls lost, 12-6, to even their fledgling season record to 1-1, but coach Lesley Graham knows if her girls want to be competitive in the South Jersey Group III playoffs, they’re going to have to hone their skills against top-notch teams.
“This season I have amped up our non-conference schedule,” she said. “For the first time ever I’ve gone to the full max of 18 games just because I feel it will help us prepare for postseason play. I have scrimmages against some of the top teams in state … and we have a matchup against a super-strong team from Pennsylvania,” she said just before her team’s season kicked off Friday with an easy, 17-1 win over Cape-Atlantic League foe Middle Township.
That super tough team is Villa Maria Academy. Graham also will be making the “annual pilgrimage to Delaware on the ferry to play Cape Henlopen again.”
The Raider girls are the defending champions in the Cape-Atlantic League, where they face tough competitors including Mainland Regional and Holy Spirit, but when the state tournament comes, everything gets taken up a notch.
“In my personal opinion, Group III South is the hardest group in New Jersey as a whole,” Graham said. “You have powerhouses Moorestown, Shawnee, Cherry Hill West, ourselves and Clearview, just to name a few, in one group in New Jersey. Just to be able to get out of your group is a daunting task.”
After winning the CAL title over Holy Spirit last year, the girls lost to No. 1 seed Moorestown in the South Jersey semifinals; Shawnee then beat Moorestown for the title. In the 2022 season, the top four teams in the South Jersey tournament were Shawnee, Moorestown, Cherry Hill West and Ocean City. Shawnee beat Ocean City in the semifinals and then Moorestown beat Shawnee for the South Jersey title. Ocean City also fell to eventual champion Moorestown in the 2021 South Jersey semifinals.
That tournament remains in the distance. First the girls will work to continue their success in the CAL “through hard work and team-first attitude,” Graham said.
“We’re fortunate to play some of the best here in South Jersey. Holy Spirit and Mainland are always tough teams that give us a run for the money. This year OLMA is on our side. We faced them in the quarterfinals of the CAL tournament last year. We never take a team lightly,” the coach said.
She noted no matter whom the Raiders play, “We try to focus on ourselves, the product we put on the field …. It’s really about our team and how we perform.”
“Having a schedule that mirrors that strength with teams such as Haddonfield, Rumson-Fairhaven, a scrimmage against Summit, will really just positively push us in the direction we need to go so when we do face (those other teams) we’re ready for it.”
Ocean City brings back a large part of its talented squad from last year, including a number of girls already committed to take their game to college-level play. Graham said the team has some holes to fill because of graduation, which cost them some on-field starters and team leaders, but the Raiders “are progressing towards building that chemistry and building the ins and outs of the team on and off the field, but we’re lucky to have back talented players who are taking their game to the next level.”
She has four seniors signed to play in Division I in college, one in Division II and one in Division III, plus a junior committed to playing for a Division I school. “Having those knowledgeable players to help the younger kids while increasing their knowledge of the game is something we’re really grateful for,” Graham said.
On attack is junior Bryn Culmone, “who is super speedy and very aggressive. She is great on the crease,” Graham said. “We have Breanna Fabi, a senior who is going to Montclair to play field hockey. She is very smooth and fluid. We will have some newer faces on that side of the ball – some underclassmen are looking to step into roles there.”
The coach said the strength of her team, like most, lies in the midfield. That is where she has three Division 1 commits in Delainey Sutley, who is going to Rutgers and is a returning All American; Gracie Pierce, who is going to East Carolina; and Kelsea Cooke, who is going to Duquesne. “Kelsea is returning from a season-ending ACL injury last year. Her younger sister, Ryan, is also committed to going to Duquesne and plays in the midfield for us as well,” Graham said.
The defense is anchored by Julianna Duff, a senior headed to the University of Rhode Island, a brand new Division 1 program. “It is a super exciting opportunity for her,” Graham said. “We also have Presley Green in cage, also back from season-ending ACL injury last year.” Green is going to play lacrosse at Division II Newberry College in South Carolina.
Defenders also include senior Kate Cossaboon, junior Faith Pacquing and some underclassmen looking to fill spots left by 2023 graduates Maddy Monteleone and Andi Helphenstine. Others on the attack are seniors Marissa Vallese, who will be playing Division III lacrosse at SUNY Oneonta next year and senior Alexis Allegretto.
Goals for the Raiders this season include keeping everybody healthy after the team suffered some injuries last year. Beyond that the coach wants to make sure the team makes progress, “that we’ve pushed each other, that we bought into the team-first motto, and we really are building better lacrosse players and building better humans off the field through their experiences on the field.”
Ten different players scored in Ocean City’s season opener against Middle Township. Sutley and Ryan Cooke each had a hat trick and Culmone, Laurel Munning and Marley Ostrander had two goals each. Allegretto, Fabi, Pierce, Stevie Wright and Kelsea Cooke had one goal peace. Culmone had four assists.
Against Villa Maria Academy, Ryan Cooke and Munning each scored two goals and Sutley and Pierce had one each. The Raiders are at Lower Cape May at 4 p.m. Thursday, at Rumson Fairhaven at 10 a.m. Saturday and at Mainland at 4 p.m. April 15. The girls host Holy Spirt April 17.
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
