CHC sticksters show improvement in openerby
byTOM UTESCHER
In her first collegiate contest, Archbishop Carroll graduate Katie Donovan
rang up eight goals for Chestnut Hill College, but the host Griffins lost
by a 16-12 count to Hood College in last Wednesday’s Atlantic Women’s
College Conference lacrosse game, which was the season opener for both
teams.
Hood, located in Frederick, MD, is able to draw upon good local high
school talent, but CHC’s young 2006 squad fared much better against
the Blazers than its immediate predecessor, which lost to Hood 10-1 a
year ago.
“It was a game that showed us what we have to work on,” noted
Megan McHugh, the Griffins’ first-year coach. “Defense, the
transition game, and ball possession on offense are the main three things
we need to target. I was happy that we started to pull together after
the first half, and we made a lot more good connections. After giving
up 11 goals before halftime, we only gave up five after that.”
McHugh is no stranger to the college or its lacrosse program. When she
graduated from Chestnut Hill in 2003, she was not only the top scorer
ever at CHC, but also third in career scoring in all of NCAA Division
III, with a total of 284 goals. She has coached lacrosse at Cheltenham
High School, and is currently a teacher at Immaculate Conception grade
school in Jenkintown.
McHugh’s assistant coach is Matt Hungerford, a 2004 graduate of
Bishop McDevitt High School who now attends Alvernia College.
Former Griffins coach Jebb Chagan moved on to head the program at Villanova
University, but not before securing some strong recruits for Chestnut
Hill. McHugh has taken over a young and athletically-talented team, with
freshmen making up 14 of the 20 players on the roster.
Not all of them have much lacrosse experience, though. In fact, the Griffins’
starting line-up last Wednesday included five players who are newcomers
to the sport.
Junior Morgan Nichols, a rare veteran for CHC, got the hosts on the board
less than two minutes into the 2006 opener (she later had two assists),
but a hat trick by Laurie Burrier (seven goals, four assists total) helped
bring the Blazers back to lead 4-2. Midway through the first half the
Griffins pulled even at 6-6 as Donovan recorded her fourth goal.
After that, Burrier and Laura Pitts (three goals, two assists) powered
another offensive spurt by the Blazers, who went ahead 11-6. Three more
markers by Donovan closed up the score to 11-9 by halftime, and in the
second period both defenses stiffened and slowed down the scoring pace.
Markers by freshmen Stephanie Carlyle (assist: Donovan) and Katie Williams
(assist: Tiffanie Stanton) helped the hosts stay within two goals of the
Blazers up to 13-11, but Hood put three of the last four points on the
board. Griffins goalie Stephanie Jordan, another freshman, finished up
with 12 saves, many of them against wide-open attackers, while Hood keeper
Lauren Lieb made seven stops.
Although CHC’s Donovan is just beginning her collegiate career,
Coach McHugh observed “She’s a natural born leader, not just
for the other freshmen, but even for the older girls on the team.”
On the defensive end, McHugh said “Katie Taylor [also a freshman]
comes from a strong lacrosse area in New York and has been playing since
she was very young, and she really helped hold things together in the
back.”
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