In past years, senior captains Abby Bieber, Meagan Brennan, Sarah Langlie and Tess Petesh have been on teams with potential, but never have all the parts to their team come together like this year’s group. Improvement has come about by an off-season coaching change and since the girls came into contact with the positive attitude of first-year coach Jen Greenberg back in November, the team has been infected by enthusiasm.


“We’ve always had a decent team but this year we’ve really taken it to the next level,” said Brennan. “The reason we started off so well is probably due to the changes on the team and Jen deserves most of the credit for that.”

The girls’ positive reaction to Greenberg’s arrival has translated to a 7-2 record and a team that, according to Brennan, is the closest friends they have ever been.

Greenberg, who previously coached at a boarding school in England called Rendcomb College, is still in the process of making the transition to coaching lacrosse in the United States. She is fortunate to inherit strong leadership from her six seniors and to retain the services of former head coach Bill Euler, who is now an assistant coach.

“The level of lacrosse in the UK does not compare with what the East Coast here has,” said Greenberg.

Greenberg has pushed the girls hard by making them sprint given any opportunity. If the girls curse, they sprint. If they wear jewelry to practice, they sprint.

“Jen is a lot tougher on us but it all pays off in the end and it is for the best,” said Langlie.

All this conditioning has contributed to what Greenberg feels is a strength on the team, as evidenced by their 20-goal onslaught against Richard Montgomery on April 15.

Led by Colby College-bound Petesh, the team’s leading scorer, the girls have been adequate offensively, but needs to tighten up their defense before the playoffs.

Playoffs start on May 7, so they have a short amount of time to work out the kinks before the regular season ends. Greenberg is sure to work the girls hard in practice.

“Jen is the best thing that could have happened for us,” said Brennan. “She’s an amazing coach.”

Greenberg, as well as the players, look to avenge themselves after last year’s disappointing playoff loss to Wootton.

“We have been working very hard at practice, and need to work on the little things and it will all fall into place,” said Greenberg.

Their dedication showed with back-to-back wins against Quince Orchard on April 22 and B-CC on April 25, two teams they lost to last season. Junior goalie Yasmeen Ajdari held Quince Orchard to five goals in their win.

“I certainly expect that we will all pull together and kick butt in playoffs,” said Brennan. “I don’t want to jinx anything but if we play our game then I think we can make it pretty far. We certainly have the potential.”