Pre-Season Preview for 2019

It's lacrosse season again and the game continues to expand in North Texas as Lovejoy, Prosper, and Rockwall will be joining the Texas Girls High School Lacrosse League in the JV division. Other changes include division realignments promoting back-to-back defending Division II State Champion, Greenhill School, up to Division I and the relegation of Southlake Carroll and Keller to Division II.

Coppell hosts Southlake Carroll to kick off the 2019 varsity season on Wednesday, February 6th. Bridge, coming off its best season last year, travels to McKinney on Saturday, February 9th.

Here are a few team spotlights from each division.

Division I

McKinney Lacrosse Club

Head Coach - Pam Sagehorn (3rd)

With 10 graduating seniors in 2018, the future for the McKinney Lacrosse Team this year was undetermined. With the leadership of their new three captains, Ali Van der Ziel, Vanessa Hakizimana, and Tate Hurley, they are excited to get this season underway. They have a handful of solid returners and with some rising young stars, and are hopeful to gain notice early this season.

Head Coach, Pam Sagehorn, and Assistant Coach, Christine Heaney, are back coaching McKinney for their 3rd year together. The coaches believe that the team has shown great unity in achieving common team goals early and have confidence that they can build from this throughout the coming months to make this season a successful one.

Division II

Bridge Lacrosse

Head Coach - Maddie Nayfa (4th) and Jen Hartmann (1st)

Last Year's Record - 2-9

The Bridge Panthers are looking forward to the 2019 season and are primed to be even more competitive than in 2018 after finishing as a #7 seed and losing 6-11 to Frisco in the first round of district playoffs. The 2018 class was perhaps one of the strongest Bridge senior groups closing the gap on several major programs each year and they certainly leave big shoes to fill. However, the 2019 class is incredibly deep, with a dozen seniors, and the most experienced in program history.

Expectations are quite high going into the season with such a large senior group, and the team will rely on their leadership as well as the production of the junior class and several returning sophomores who played significant minutes as freshmen. Bridge is looking forward to a full Division II schedule as well as an opportunity to play McKinney in an out-of-division game. In addition to the Varsity, the Panthers are also excited to field a JV team and are looking forward to a strong freshmen group that will make an immediate impact.

Parish Episcopal School

Head Coach – Carly Carey (4th) and Brendan Murphy (1st)

Last Year's Record – 3-6

The Parish Panthers are ready for this season, with a strong roster of 26 players. This is the fourth season Parish has had a lacrosse team and their skills and knowledge of the game reflects that. Only graduating one senior last year, Parish has a seasoned roster and great leadership, with 10 seniors. With no JV team this year, Parish is excited for young players to watch, learn, and take the field when they are ready.

Southlake Carroll Girls Lacrosse

Head Coach - Morgan McDonald (1st) and Stephanie Schenkel (2nd)

Last Year's Record - 5-7

The Southlake Carroll Lady Dragons cannot wait to get started with a lot of positive energy and change happening for the program. The Lady Dragons will be competing at the Division II level with the hopes of a very successful season under their new fearless leader, a former Collegiate (D1) and 2x State Champion Head Coach.

This Spring season is bound to be a great one with a solid group of very dedicated and experienced Seniors leading the way. They are closely followed by incredible Junior and Sophomore classes having competed together for many years. The biggest class is the Freshman group coming in eager to compete and make their mark on the program. SCGL is looking forward to traveling out of state to play some competitive teams in Arkansas as well as hosting their first annual tournament in February. The Lady Dragons have a very competitive schedule full of DII teams, as well as other out-of-division programs like Flower Mound, Highland Park, and Coppell. Go Dragons!