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06/17/2024 12:31 AMThe Guilford girls’ lacrosse team may not have ended the season claiming postseason hardware, but every athlete on the squad can look back on the campaign with a sense of pride for the product they left on the field.
After finishing the regular season with a record of 9-7, Guilford entered the SCC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Grizzlies took a tough 12-9 loss vs. No. 5 Lauralton Hall in the first round. Then, as the No. 8 seed in the Class L State Tournament, Guilford hosted No. 9 East Lyme in the first round on May 28 and won 13-6 before falling 18-10 vs. top-seeded Masuk in the quarterfinals on May 30.
Head Coach John Climie saw the resilience of his team come through early on in the spring, when they faced obstacles he wasn’t sure they could move past.
“It went really well, but I did not know what to expect because we had a couple of injuries that thinned our roster even more. A number of freshmen not only had to play more minutes but also pretty much the entire game,” said Climie. “When it was all said and done, and you include playoffs, we won 10 games. We went into the SCCs and played Lauralton Hall. We won a home playoff game in the state tournament.”
Climie also added that the end of the campaign proved to be a true test for a team so determined to win, but the Grizzlies faced the challenge head-on and locked in to play their best lacrosse.
“We played our best two games of the year at the end of the regular season, as far as the team goes. That was without Colby Atwater (sophomore, midfielder), who was one of our unsung heroes and plays year-round. She did a lot of work for us on the draw circle and was a really tough defender,” said Climie. “We lost another year-round player that is a sophomore, but we played really well during the Senior Night game against East Lyme.”
Leading the team this season were senior captains Isabella Blanco (defender), Payton Root (attack), and Maya Stoddard (goaltender). All of them helped to facilitate a supportive atmosphere, and they did it seamlessly as they transitioned into their captainship roles.
“The captains did a great job - for those three kids to lead us when they did not really know how to be leaders before this year because they did not have to be,” Climie said. “We always had really strong leadership and players, but they had to figure out how to lead 17 players from varsity to JV (junior varsity). It is not easy to do. They were really a good sounding board for me early on. At the end of the day, they won their last home game as senior captains.”
For postseason awards, Root and Tea Gambardella (junior, midfielder) were named to the All-SCC First Team. Root was also named All-State and scored over 90 goals this season.
“[Root] is an amazing and talented player. She accounted for most of our goal output this year in the regular season. That is pretty crazy, when one player is over 50% of your offense,” said Climie. “Tea is a soccer-first kid, but she played every minute as a middie. She found way more scoring touch this year. She was terrific for us and was our second leading scorer at 22 goals.”
Tanya Evans (senior, attack), Addison Widlitz (senior, attack), Stoddard, and Cambelle Jacobson (junior, defense) also served key roles for the Grizzlies this spring.
“Our attack was really Tanya, who had a really good year, and Addison as well. Between the three attackers, they were the two seniors and offensively more experienced,” said Climie. “Defensively, Maya Stoddard was a vocal leader, somebody who did a lot of extra work in practice, always thought through what she needed to do, and found her why to be better. We had Cambelle Jacobson on defense, along with Colby Atwater. They will be looked up to heavily next season because we are losing Maya. Again stats wise, our defense had stopped players continuously before we could get a possession.”
Not only did Guilford have its experienced core that helped to lead the way, but a pair of freshman standouts also showed the ability to provide value on the turf in Emelia “Emmy” Vado (defender) and Maddie Welch (midfielder).
“Emmy Vado played the whole season, led the team in caused turnovers, and never got tired. Maddie Welch is another freshman that took the draw for us and played middie all season,” said Climie. “There were a lot of great performances this season, however, we leaned heavily on them during the bulk of the season.”
Prior to the second half of the campaign, Climie had set his sights on building the Guilford program in his first year at the helm, with the upperclassman players returning as three-peat state champions and the underclassmen learning to be successful for the years to come.
“I realized that a strength of a town like Guilford and the number of kids who are playing the sport now play extra to get better. It had come down to learning how the program works a little and what I don’t know,” said Climie. “My assistant coaches supported me throughout the season, and we all learned how the three of us coached in order to succeed. We learned who the kids were and put the best group of kids on the field when we could, but we were also looking to the future, rotating players to get minutes.”
Climie noted that he was able to establish himself more as a head coach rather than an assistant on the field this season, which was one of his goals after taking over for Wendy Epke.
The Grizzlies graduated seven seniors, with the remaining 10 girls looking forward to what they can accomplish as a team for next year.
“We are graduating most of our attack, our goalie, and a defender,” Climie said. “Next year, we are going to need those freshmen that took a step forward this season to get better. A lot of them do play summer lacrosse, so they will be in good shape. Next year, I am looking to be a little more present in the offseason and be more organized about how we use our time.”
Climie is assisted by Lindsay Wargo (assistant coach) and Bridget Smestad (JV coach).
The Grizzlies team roster is comprised of Blanco, Evans, Grace Reilly (senior, attack), Root, Stoddard, Widlitz, Evelyn Bertolini (junior, midfielder), Gambardella, Jacobson, Giada Mezzanotte (junior, attack), Kaycee Spencer (junior, defender), Atwater, Sophie Alberti (freshman, midfielder), Gabby Chen (freshman, attack), Neave Coyne (freshman, midfielder), Allie Michna (freshman, midfielder), Welch, and Votto.