DV senior girls led lacrosse team through a winning season

Bernadine Salak has a quick answer to which contest stands out as most memorable from this past season.

“Definitely our Dallas game, which was a must win game to be the District 2 AAA champions,’’ said the Delaware Valley High School girls lacrosse head coach.

“After losing to Hazelton Area with four games remaining, we had to win all four to be District champions,” he said. “Because Dallas had defeated Hazelton, it was going to be a key game to raise our Power Rankings for playoffs. The players responded [with a] 14-2 win over Lakeland, a 9-8 win of North Pocono, and then a 10-9 win over Dallas. We ended our regular season with a 16-4 win over Tunkhannock.’’

The Warriors finished with an overall record of 8-7 against consistently tough competition. The class of 2021 had a major positive influence for Delaware Valley this year.

“I would have to say our senior class did an amazing job in recruiting players, setting the standard for our program and for continuing to develop our team culture in a very challenging year,’’ Salak said. “Isabella Fasulo was the senior who was always organizing players and leading our warm-ups and drills. Madison Fedun was great at motivating younger players and communicating with everyone. Emma Schotsch was the quiet leader who led by example and provided the emotional strength that was needed.

“Erin Hartey and Abigail Vogel mentored our young defense and got everyone to be on the same page and be fearless. Julia Weinreb was our competitor, fueling the attack players with her competitive fire. Emily Festa demonstrated how to battle back from adversity after an injury took away her senior season.‘’

A number of student athletes on the roster showed steady improvements for the Warriors this spring.

“Daisey Carney, Leah Weinreb and Emily Cruz have emerged as offensive threats that we are looking forward to leading us next year,’’ Salak said. “Shannon Croll was willing to play everywhere and anywhere on the field to help us to succeed. Gabbi Courtright is emerging as a solid defender who had the speed and strength to challenge the top players in the League for her senior season. Sophia Perrin also stepped into the goalie position after not seeing a single live shot in a game and did a tremendous job in goal for us this year.’’

Proud of overcoming Covid challenges

These accomplishments, along with DV’s determination, are impressive. Salak is excited about the 2022 season.

“I am so proud of how our team responded to the Covid-19 restrictions and challenges that we faced,’’ Salak said. “Several early injuries to our starting lineup also shook our roster a bit. We told each player that they have to be ready to play any position at any time because our lineup was constantly in flux.

“The seniors were encouraged to create their legacy and to continue to build our team culture of family, fun, and great lacrosse and the underclassmen were told to start to write their own stories within our program and when given the opportunity, step up, rise and play to the best of your ability at all times. It was a stressful but fun season, and I am proud of all that we accomplished and look forward to next season to continue to watch these student athletes learn and grown within the game.

“We will miss our seven seniors tremendously, but I was very encouraged by the play of our underclassmen. We will have a solid core of rising seniors to build around, and because of Covid issues and injuries, many of our first-year players were forced into the varsity lineup early and we had four freshmen and four sophomores earn varsity letters.’’