Framingham girls build a winning tradition
The Framingham High girls' lacrosse program is building quite a tradition.
In the past four years, the Flyers have indeed taken flight, winning four straight Bay State Conference titles, four Division 1 North Sectional crowns, and back-to-back state championships. Framingham capped its second straight 25-0 season Saturday afternoon with a thrilling 8-7 win over host Longmeadow in the Division 1 state final.
What is the secret behind the team's success?
After losing last year's top scorer, All-American Shaunna Kaplan, now a two-sport athlete at the University of New Hampshire, the Flyers followed the lead of senior captains Kristin Igoe (92 goals, 62 assists), Denise Beliveau, and Devin O'Leary to another state crown.
Now with Igoe, Beliveau, and a talented senior class departing, who will step forward?
"Our girls' lacrosse program is built on the character of each and every player, and I think it's nice that we had some success," said Framingham coach Stacey Freda. "That whole saying of 'success breeds success' is certainly an important anecdote right here, and the fact that the [underclassmen] can see how we do things. I think that leads the way in terms of the next group that comes in."
Framingham is losing 10 seniors to graduation from its 29-player squad.
Junior midfielder Melanie Baskind (55 goals, 36 assists) and sophomore attack Samantha Zetlin will be back to lead the offense next spring, and keep an eye on freshman attack Moira Barry, who scored in the championship contest against Longmeadow.
Among the graduating seniors is goaltender Lisa Lach, who took command her junior and senior years in net. Junior Jessica Gordon will take over for her.
So it appears that Freda and the Flyers will reload and be ready to contend again next spring.
Framingham "has a great coach," said Longmeadow coach Steven Dudeck. "Coach Freda does a nice job with [her team], and if there's one team we would have to get beat by, it would be by the best team in the state, and [Framingham] proved that today."
