For a select few high school teams each spring, their seasons end with the euphoria of a state championship.
Others see their seasons come to an end earlier than they wanted them to. There’s sadness when the journey comes to a close, but there should also be pride in what has been accomplished.
St. Paul girls lacrosse saw its season end Wednesday in North Branford. The ninth-seeded Falcons were downed 18-4 by the top-seeded Thunderbirds in a Class S quarterfinal game. North Branford looked like a No. 1 seed, its passing was crisp and its ability to get the ball in the net proved to be too much.
St. Paul was overmatched, and all it could do was play hard and give North Branford its due when it was all set and done.
For the Falcons, the season is over, but what an incredible run it was. Elaine Bowman was in her first season as head coach after being an assistant to Travis Church for two seasons, but Bowman knew what she had.
“Our team is on the hunt for a program first state tournament game,” Bowman wrote in her season preview. “If we are able to capitalize on our strengths in the midfield then I think we have a chance of surprising a lot of teams. The girls have a lot more experience now and I believe that will help us a lot this season. We are consistently improving every year and I know our record will keep improving!”
How right you were, Elaine.
St. Paul tripled, yes tripled, its win total from 2017. The Falcons were 4-12 in 2017, and then they finished 12-7 in 2018.
The seeds for improvement were sewn over the first two seasons, but then the success rate went through the roof in 2018. What happened?
St. Paul had the ability to get goals from a multitude of players. That included junior captain Ashley Suzio, along with classmates Emma Cretella and Catherine Ciampi. Others found the net though, like junior Carolyn Del Debbio and freshmen like Greta Panke and Cameron Baston.
Bowman pointed to a strong incoming freshman class in her preview, and those newcomers certainly helped.
St. Paul brought back its goalie, junior Maddie Bernier, along with senior captain Taylor Conner. Whether it was attack, midfield or defense, the Falcons were not afraid to hustle, or play a little physical. That had to have made for some surprise for opponents of St. Paul, if only the record over the first two seasons (5-25) was taken into consideration.
Here’s what Bowman wrote about the difference between 2016 and 2017.
“Last year’s record = 4-12 (huge improvement over first season with just 1 win),” Bowman wrote.
She also pointed out, as mentioned before, that the team was consistently improving. Granted, jumping from 4-12 to 11-5 in the regular season was shocking, but that record was earned by the hard work of the players, Bowman and her staff.
In 2017, St. Paul won twice against Wolcott and Amistad. In 2018, the Falcons not only beat both of those teams twice, but added a pair of wins against Holy Cross, the Bristol Co-op (Central and Eastern), AND Lewis Mills. St. Paul also picked up a win against Housatonic and Watertown.
The third-year varsity program won four games against the other three teams that made the state tournament. St. Paul not only qualified for the state tournament for the first time, but it won the first game of that first appearance. That’s the epitome of vast improvement.
What’s crazy about this St. Paul team is what it returns next season, at least according to the CIAC roster. Conner was the lone senior, and she will be missed in the backfield. The Falcons, however, will have a strong senior class, and their freshmen and sophomores of 2018 will be sophomores and juniors in 2019. And who knows who will enter the program as freshmen in 2019.
The potential is there for even more improvement, and even more success in 2019.
How much? Well, the goal in 2018 was a state tournament game, and St. Paul not only got there, but it WON. The Falcons could be destined for even greater things in 2019, and only time will tell what those greater things may be.
