Championship Loss Won’t Overshadow Season

Glenelg Country School’s (GCS) varsity girls lacrosse team came up just short vs. St. Paul’s School for Girls in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference championship game on Friday, May 13, falling 15-7. 

St. Paul’s started the game with two quick goals in the opening five minutes. The Gators kept their foot on the accelerator throughout the championship game, taking a 12-3 lead into halftime. The Dragons started the second half with a quick goal by Jaclyn Marszal ’22 two minutes into the half. Despite outscoring St. Paul’s in the second half 4-3, the squad was unable to string together enough goals to mount a comeback. St. Paul’s Natalie Shurtleff led all scorers in the game with five, while the Dragons were paced by Maggie Weisman ’22, Regan Byrne ’23, and Blair Byrne ’23, each with two goals.

GCS entered the championship as the country’s top-ranked team and was seeking the program’s first A Conference title. The Gators earned their second conference title in consecutive years, while the Dragons finished as the runners-up in the tournament for the first time in school history. The team fell to St. Paul’s in the semifinal game a year ago.

Although the season ended not according to plan, the team has much for which to be proud. The squad finished the year 14-2 and produced two USA Lacrosse Mid-Atlantic Players of the Week in Weisman and Jaclyn Marszal ’22. And though the team graduates 11 seniors, this season provided a wealth of experience for the remaining players, including 10 rising seniors.

The GCS community is proud of the team’s success this year, both on and off the field. Clearly, the future is bright for the program and for the players who will be competing at the collegiate level.