At one local school, lacrosse is synonymous with excellence. The girls at McDonogh are simply the best.
How good are they? They haven’t lost in eight years.
“It’s a part of history knowing how much we’ve accomplished,” said captain Nicole Alecce
“Every day is something new. Every game is something new,” added junior attacker Julia Hoffman.
“The whole win streak has taken on a whole personality of its own,” said McDonogh head coach Chris Robinson. “We’ve become almost legendary.”
Yes, legendary is a pretty good work for it. They are the national lacrosse powerhouse that is still going strong. They are the McDonogh girls lacrosse team. The Eagles are owners of a record 168 consecutive wins. That’s not only a national high school lacrosse record, that’s a record for all outdoor high school team sports.
“It’s just a really special team every single year. The girls on the team are just amazing people,” said senior attack Bethany Lally.
So do the Eagles actually remember what it feels like to lose a game?
“Not really,” laughed Alecce.
Yeah, didn’t think so.
McDonogh hasn’t lost a game since 2009.
The streak is talked about very little among the team, once in the beginning of the season and that’s it. But, the pressure is there all year long.
“We have to come out as pumped up and as strong as possible because we know that everybody’s going to give us their best shot,” said Hoffman.
Each time the streak is in jeopardy, the girls rise to the occasion.
“We’ve had certain games where I’ve even been like ‘Oh, this is going to be it. We’re going to lose’ and the kids dig another level deeper that I didn’t even know they had,” said Robinson.
“Nobody wants to break the streak,” admitted Hoffman. “Nobody wants to be the one to lose it.”
To be part of this program you obviously have to be a supremely talented lacrosse player. However, players tell me it takes more than that to be an Eagle.
“You just have to be really mentally tough. Everyone is gunning for you. Each game everyone wants to beat you,” said Lally.
McDonogh goes for consecutive win No.169 Friday at St. Paul’s.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerABC2 and Facebook
