Girls Lacrosse: Defending champs Watterson, Upper Arlington face season of change
Monday, March 18, 2024
By Michael Rich
mrich@cbussports.com
Watterson’s Sophia Monesi (right), who had 76 goals and 17 assists last season, faces off during the Eagles’ OHSAA Division II state title win June 3 at Historic Crew Stadium. File photo
Sophia Monesi will never forget the feeling of winning a Division II state championship last season. The attacker scored the game-winning goal to give the Watterson girls lacrosse team its first state title.
“Honestly, it just felt so surreal to me,” said Monesi, now a senior, who had 76 goals and 17 assists last season. “It was like, ‘Did this really just happen?’ It was so hot out and I felt like everything was just taken out of me. But I had that one more push just to keep going and fight ‘til the end.”
While Watterson, which finished 19-3, battled the high heat in a 10-8 win over Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown, Upper Arlington had a completely different experience in winning its 11th state title in the Division I game later in the day.
The Golden Bears waited through a 2-hour, 56-minute weather delay before defeating OCC-Central Division rival Olentangy Liberty 14-10 to win their first title since 2019.
“It was crazy because our game was so long,” said Lilly Boyle, a midfielder, who is now a senior. “It wasn’t like any other game I’ve ever played in before. After going through 4 hours or whatever, it was just the best feeling ever. We took a little bit of time celebrating. But then we got right back into focusing on the new season. I think winning it last season gives us motivation to want to do it again.”
Both the Eagles and UA are embarking on a season of change, which starts with having to replace their respective top scorers.
Meg Newcomb, who led Watterson in both goals (81) and assists (44), graduated as did Katie Bettendorf, who had three of her 27 goals last season in the state title game.
“We’ll just have to have people step up in that role,” Monesi said. “(We’ll) work on chemistry (and) the communication within each other. I feel like I’m developing good leadership within the offense. It’s different without Meg, but we’ll have to push through with new people.”
Upper Arlington’s Lilly Boyle (13), a Louisville commit, eyes the goal during the Golden Bears’ Division I state semifinal win May 30 at Wittenberg University. File photo
Second-year coach Laura Sandbloom agreed the Bears didn’t take long to turn the page from last season to this one.
“The girls are thinking about June 7, 2024, but they’re not thinking about June 3, 2023, anymore,” said Sandbloom, whose team opened with an 18-7 win over Massillon Jackson on March 16. “I think they know what that feeling feels like to run on the field at the end of a season and lift a trophy. That doesn’t happen without tons and tons of hard work. It’s skills and habits and the little things right now that we are emphasizing. We’re not talking big picture right now other than having them set their goals as a team. We’re talking (about) the skills and habits that lead to success in the future.”
Kampbell Stone scored a program-record 106 goals and had 16 assists, 115 draw controls and 54 ground balls to lead the Bears last season.
UA also lost Liz Schumacher (28 goals, 36 assists, 26 ground balls), Lilly Stelzer (50 goals, 9 assists), Brennan Campbell (26 goals, 25 assists) and Paige Brewer (17 goals, 6 assists) to graduation.
Stone and Audrey Schoemer are now playing at Ohio State and Steltzer is at Cincinnati.
It leaves just two of its top seven point-scorers in Boyle (7 goals, 43 assists) and Mary Kate Basil (attacker; 17 goals, 10 assists).
“We definitely have a different group,” Sandbloom said. “Kampbell was an amazing goal-scorer last year. But what this year provides without Kampbell is team play. If everybody takes on maybe one or two more goals per game, that void is filled. It’s not to say that Kampbell is replaceable – she’s an amazing goal-scorer.”
Upper Arlington senior Abbie Dunlap (9), a Louisville commit, returns to the midfield after scoring six goals and assisting on 18 others. She also had 31 ground balls last season. File photo
The Bears have plenty of talent with five Division I college commits in midfielders Boyle (Louisville), Ava Stummer (Penn State) and Abbie Dunlap (Louisville), defender Alex Burns (Boston University) and junior attacker Bethany Smith (University of Maryland Baltimore County). Sophomore midfielder/attacker Avie Ruma should also play a key role.
“We’ve had a lot of girls every year that have come through this program that are so fantastic. So, we’re now just giving girls who were on the bench last year or are new to our program a chance and they’re definitely rising to the challenge. We’ve got a lot of kiddos that are playing and are really great players and now, it’s putting those pieces together and letting them shine.”
The Bears enter the season on a 57-game winning streak in league play. They’ve won the last 11 titles with their last loss coming April 19, 2011, when New Albany beat them 12-11.
They open that part of their schedule on April 2 against Olentangy Orange. UA, which beat Liberty 14-12 in OCC-Central play last year, faces off against the Patriots on April 16.
Abbey Gay takes over for Eileen Barrett as Watterson’s coach after previously serving as an assistant coach.
The Eagles have a solid nucleus that includes seniors Carly Henry (attacker; 36 goals, 12 assists 18 ground balls), Kaitlyn Sullivan (midfielder; 24 goals, 16 assists, 19 ground balls), Avery McLain (midfielder; 27 goals, 5 assists, 35 ground balls) and Marie Rudzinski (defender; 17 ground balls) and junior Gigi Francati (midfielder; 23 goals, 2 assists, ) as well as senior goalie Amelia Brown (138 saves).
“We only lost five seniors and they did very well and contributed to our success last year,” said Gay, whose team opens at home against Olentangy Orange on March 21. “But we’ve still got a strong team (with) 10 seniors this year. We’ve got a lot of depth with our core girls that have been around the last few years.
“This is my fifth season now (with the program), so I wouldn’t say it’s too crazy or too different. But there’s still an adjustment there and a little pressure.”
The Watterson girls lacrosse team sings the alma mater with their student section after their OHSAA Division II state championship win June 3 at Historic Crew Stadium. File photo
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