Girls' Lacrosse Top Scorers
William Dayton, GAME ON Contributor
Girls' Lacrosse Top Scorers
The Lions senior has notched an RIIL-best 104 goals through the regular season, and now sits four playoff goals away from breaking her own record of 108, set last year.
DeSimone also owns the Lincoln High school record of 264 career goals, and has recorded 26 assists and a state-leading 130 points this season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"What she has done in four years is incredibly amazing," said Lincoln head coach Sue Renzi. "She's one-in-a-million. She's the whole package. She's incredibly athletic, fast, and has a great field sense. She just has it."
"I think what makes her special is that she's so driven," Renzi said.
"You know, you tell all of your kids to go home and practice, but she's the one kid who would actually do it. She'd be out with her father, having him throw her balls. She's just very determined, and that's what makes her successful."
DeSimone's Lions are coming off a trip to the state title game and finished at 11-3 in the Division II North. She's a talented all-around athlete, and will attend Brown University to play soccer next season.
Senior Hannah Saris became the all-time leading scorer in Moses Brown history this season, putting up 80 goals and clinching the Division I scoring title with 125 points. Saris also posted 45 assists for the Division I North champion Quakers (15-1). She has committed to play college lacrosse at Division I Dartmouth next season.
Teammate Meghan Buonanno has also been an efficient scorer for Moses Brown, putting up 37 goals and adding 27 assists. She finished sixth in the state with 64 points.
Junior Kelly Dolan of Barrington finished third in scoring, having notched 67 goals and added 14 helpers (81 points) in leading the Eagles to a 14-3 record.
LaSalle's Falynn McCartney finished fourth in the state with 78 points on 53 goals and 25 assists. She will play college lacrosse at Division I Central Connecticut State University next season. “Falynn is a great all-around athlete,” said North Kingstown High head coach Steve Alviti. “She’s fast, strong, and has a quick release. She’s extremely tough to defend.”
Central Connecticut State head coach Kelly Nangle said that she is very excited to have landed McCartney. “She’s an incredible athlete, and she hasn’t hit her full potential yet,” Nangle said. “She’s just a workhorse. I think her biggest asset is how athletic she is.”
Michaela Lawler of South Kingstown finished fifth among all Division I players in scoring, notching 61 points on 44 goals and 17 assists.
Portsmouth's Top Scorer
Junior Maddy Blackburn (47 goals, 22 assists) and sophomore Julia Harrigan (52 goals, 6 assists) have led a youth movement at Portsmouth, which is 9-4 and sitting in third place in the Division II South. “Maddy has been terrific this season,” said Portsmouth head coach Michael Borrosh. “She’s a very tenacious player…very aware of the field…she’s just got natural athleticism. She’s got a great ability to dodge and judge the defense.”
Borrosh said that Blackburn has gotten some interest from colleges about her services, but that she is in the exploratory phase of deciding where she wants to go.
Blackburn is on pace to break the career scoring record at Portsmouth, but that mark may not stand for long because sophomore Julia Harrigan is on pace to smash it.
Harrigan scored her 100th career goal last week, to go with 19 career assists.
“Julia is a great finisher,” Borrosh said. “She’s quick, works well with our other attackers, and has a great sense of when to make cuts. She’s good at getting goalie deflections, and is very quick on grabbing the groundball in the attack end and putting it right back in the net.”
Pilgrim High School has only been playing lacrosse for three seasons, but coaches rave about the progress of attacker Haley McCusker.
McCusker has lit the lamp for 56 goals and 5 assists this season, and led the team to a 6-1 record while in the lineup.
“I think that she has made such a big difference for that program,” said Borrosh. “She gives their offense a sense of unity and flow that they might not otherwise have.”
“I think she has helped them exceed their own expectations this year,” he said.
Lindsay Sheehan leads Division II North champion Cumberland (13-1) with 63 points (51 goals, 12 assists). The Clippers can clinch the best record in Division II with a win this afternoon at North Providence.