Thunder roar past opposition
The Blessed Trinity Thunder girls field lacrosse team completed an undefeated inaugural season of Niagara Catholic Athletic Association play Tuesday with a 15-2 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the championship game.
It was quite the debut.
“We have three or four who have played before and all the rest just picked up sticks a couple of months ago,” said Sarah Tritchew, who coaches the team along with Stephanie Jarrett. “A lot of the girls play hockey and basketball together and we just kind of put them together.”
Tritchew knew the team was capable of something special as soon as its first game had ended.
“We were really impressed but we saw it come together early on. We had a lot of interest and we took everyone. Our captains (Lita Sutor, Aubrey Sartor and Brynn Sartor) took on a great leadership role, teaching the girls the game and helping them learn the skills and the rules.”
That internal leadership was crucial to the team’s success.
“This is my first experience with girls field lacrosse and Mrs. Jarrett helped out when she worked at Notre Dame but none of us had come from playing the game,” Tritchew said. “We had to do a lot of research but the girls would come on their lunch and help us learn plays and set things up for practice.”
Blessed Trinity now advances to the Trillium Cup provincial championships and the coaching staff is excited to see what the team can do.
“We crushed it just within a month and we have a couple of weeks to practise. We have high expectations and if you talk to them, they have high expectations for themselves as well,” Tritchew said. “They are competitive and they are great girls. They are all so kind to each other and they want to see each other succeed.”
Thunder goalie Madeline Brouwer wasn’t required to be great Tuesday but she will be an important part of the equation if the team wants to succeed at the Trillium Cup.
“Madeline is amazing. I don’t even know what to say because I would never stand in the net,” Tritchew said, with a laugh. “She is an awesome goalie and a great leader. She takes more of a quiet leadership role but in practices she is there getting things set up and she was out in practice as a player for us a lot of times. She has even helped a few of our girls try net this year as well.”
The 16-year-old Grade 10 student used to play out a few years ago with the St. Catharines Athletics but moved into the net when the goalie left halfway through the season.
“I decided to step in because I am a hockey goalie and had a bit of the background,” said the travel player with the Burlington Barracudas under-18 AA hockey team. “I stepped in and I was pretty good at it and I really liked it. It was the feeling after you save a ball. It is just like hockey but less stressful because there are a lot more goals. In hockey, if you let in a goal it’s like ‘O crap.’ In this game it is OK.”
Brouwer also likes lacrosse because she can get involved on offence.
Thankfully, there were plenty of hockey skills she could translate to the lacrosse field.
“I am pretty flexible and I am able to do the splits and on the ground I can move easily. It also helps with hand/eye coordination and reaction time.”
She plays lacrosse with the St. Catharines Athletics and the Monster showcase team in Rochester, N.Y. Her goal is to get a NCAA Division 1 scholarship.
“I am going to a bunch of showcases in the summer with my team and there will be 100s of college coaches there.”
Brouwer is thrilled the Thunder has had so much success in its first season.
“It’s pretty cool.”
There were a number of reasons why the team has done so well.
“We have Aubrey and Brynn who are really good, and we also have some other girls who played box lacrosse last summer.”
The team would love to reach the podium at the Trillium Cup and, if not, at least place in the top six.
Notre Dame’s coaches were happy with their team’s play Tuesday.
“We have a lot of talent on our team and we are really proud of them. They stuck to their game, even when things got rough, and they kept true to themselves and that is all we have ever asked them to be,” coach Patty Beck said. “They gave it everything they had on the field and they did what we asked. If they left it all on the field they are not losers. They might be losers on the scoreboard but they sure as heck are not losers in our hearts.”
Coach Emma Hemphill had no complaints about the season either.
“We had a good year. We went to a couple of tournaments and did really well in them. We had a great group of girls and everyone stayed positive with each other. We played as a team every single game and we were respectful and disciplined. The girls continuously picked each other and everyone around them up and that’s all you can ask,” she said. “They made friends with each other and they always worked hard and had a great season.”
Aubrey Sartor scored seven goals for the Thunder in the championship game while Brynn Sartor and Brooke Stevens netted a pair of goals. Adding single scores were Elliotte Pergentile, Lita Sutor, Taylor Thompson and Nicole Peters. Replying for Notre Dame were Aurora Grenier and Ava Stachura.
The Fighting Irish advanced to the championship game with an 11-8 victory over the Holy Cross Raiders in the semifinals. Scoring for the Irish were Ava Briggs (4), Grenier (4), Stachura (2) and Myra Fishleigh. Replying for the Raiders were Maddy McCready (4), Kathryn Vandloft (2), Caileigh Tiller and Chelsea Tiller.
