From left: Anna Zucconi, Jillian Ward, coach Colleen Klipstein, Natalya Krouse, and Ellie Hilton posing after the successful game that honored the late Abby Bieber. The game was a memorial for the class of 2009 WJ alum that was killed on January 29, 2022.
Sophomore defender Anna Zucconi works to transition the ball down the field. Zucconi leads the team in force turnovers, doing her part on both sides of field.
Attacker Natalya Krouse outruns the Clarksburg defensive line to bring the ball up the field. Krouse has been on varsity since her freshman year and continues to play a key role in aiding the team win.
Number 3, Mila Pekar sets up to take the draw as the referee blows their whistle. Pekar committed to play D1 lacrosse at University of Massachusetts Lowell next year.
Senior captain Jillian Ward passes the ball to her teammates around the opponent’s goal. On Friday, April 22, the Wildcats won 18-1 in their home game against Clarksburg High School.
The WJ girls lacrosse defense huddles and has a quick debriefing before entering the second half. In a joint effort they only allowed Clarksburg to score one goal.
JV and varsity girls lacrosse join together to celebrate the life of catlax alumni Abby Bieber. Bieber led the Wildcats to a regional championship and was the best friend of varsity head coach Colleen Klipstein.
April 26, 2022
On April 22, the girls JV and varsity lacrosse team honored the late CatLax and Field Hockey alum, Abby Bieber. The memorial commenced with all the girls kneeling in front of Bieber’s old jersey number, #1, which was hung up on the bleachers facing both the field and the fans.
Bieber was an instrumental player on the lacrosse team as she led the team to a regional championship and a trip to the state semi-finals in 2009. After a few words about Bieber, the varsity coach and Bieber’s best friend, Colleen Klipstein relayed to the team that she hopes they can play like Bieber.
Despite not being able to attend the memorial game, Bieber’s family left a note for the team to spread awareness about domestic violence and to inspire the team to be the best they can in anything as Bieber would have wanted. To Klipstein’s surprise, the girls went to Bieber’s jersey and placed a purple rose down progressively as each player was called out during starting lineups. The first player to be called out was Bieber, wearing jersey #1 as no player on the team wears that jersey today.
QR codes were hung around the bleachers and the stadium entrance to promote the donations to OneLove Foundation, a non-profit organization to end relationship abuse. The boys and girls lacrosse teams successfully raised $1400 dollars for the OneLove Foundation in Abby’s name, both surprising Klipstein and aiding in her efforts.
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