The Londonderry High School girls’ lacrosse program’s history is full of the efforts of talented standouts like Kayla Green, Dana Boyle, Jenny Thompson, Sarah Bell, and so many others who garnered plenty of attention and then went on to play the sport in college.
And as the old adage states, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” That adage is further proven by the fact that the LHS girls’ lax program had no less than four standouts collect all-state recognition after striding proudly in the footsteps of the Greens and Thompsons and others in helping their Lady Lancers to more success in the recently-completed 2017 season.
Londonderry players receiving honors were senior midfielder Emily Holland and junior attack Catie Derhak, both getting First-Team All-State recognition from the Division I coaches, and senior defenders Faye Brown and Sami Lecaroz, both collect Second-Team All-State honors from those coaches.
Holland and Derhak were both consistent point-producing machines for their Lady Lancers, and Brown and Lecaroz both did superb work match after match in helping their team’s defense to keep the other squads’ offensive weapons stifled.
All four athletes played vital roles in helping their team to the number four seed in tough Division I, one spot ahead of the defending state champions and arch-rivals from Pinkerton Academy.
The Lancers went 14-4 during the regular season, splitting two matches with the Lady Astros. Pinkerton won a defensive battle on Londonderry ground in the first, and the Lady Lancers put forth an exceptional second half in besting PA in Derry in meeting number two. And there would be a third, even more important battle which would bust the 1-1, 2017 tie between the rivals.
Londonderry put together a six-game winning streak from March 14 to 25, then lost three of its next four matches in a bit of a skid.
However, coach Walden’s Lady Warriors won their final seven matches of the regular campaign to snag that fourth seed.
That seeding set Londonderry up in a quarterfinal-round tournament battle with number five Pinkerton at LHS, and the visitors pulled out a hard-fought 7-6 victory and kept their title repeat hopes alive for one more round.