CLOSING THE DEAL: Hun School girls’ lacrosse player Delia Lawver races upfield in recent action. Last Friday, the senior star ended her career on a high note, tallying four goals and an assist as Hun defeated Robbinsville 16-10 in its season finale. The victory gave the Raiders a final record of 12-4. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

As Delia Lawver took the field for the Hun School girls’ lacrosse team last Friday in the final appearance of her high school career, she scrawled the word “bold” on her left arm.

“This is my last game, I have to give it all I have,” said Lawver. “We all have an individual word and bold is my word for the whole season. It is how I want to play.”

Lawver displayed her boldness early on, scoring two goals in the first half as Hun took a while to find its rhythm, overcoming a 2-0 deficit to lead by just 9-8 at the half.

“Our coach said we have to regroup, this is not the team that you are,” recalled Lawver. “We know we are capable of playing better.”

With the game tied 9-9 early in the second half, Lawver sprinted hard to goal and flung the ball into the back of the net to give the Raiders a 10-9 lead.

“I saw that there was no one there: we needed to get ahead and I was just thinking I will take it and hopefully I will make a good shot and I did,” said Lawver.

That goal sparked a 5-0 run as the Raiders pulled away to a 16-10 win. Lawver added the finishing touch to the triumph, tallying the final goal of the contest with 1:07 remaining in regulation.

“It was crazy; I just felt like I needed to give it all I got so whenever I saw the opportunity to score, I would go for it and do whatever I needed to do for the team,” said Lawver. “It is a good way to end a career and go out with a win.”

Lawver and her classmates ended their Hun career with a superb 12-4 season, a marked improvement on where they started in the spring of 2014.

“It is incredible, especially from where we came from freshman year,” said Lawver.

“I think we were 1-12. Coach [Liz] Cook has helped us grow as a team and grow as individuals. It is a really good way to come out, seeing how much we have improved over the four years.”

Individually, Lawver has improved in all phases of the game and will be playing at the next level.

“I have gotten a lot more confident with a lot more knowledge of the game,” said Lawver, who is headed to Hobart and William Smith College where she is playing for its women’s lacrosse program.

“Coach Cook has helped me with that too, being able to see the field. I have learned to play a lot of positions; I can play defense, attack, and midfield, wherever they need me to play.”

Hun head coach Cook liked what she saw from Lawver in the finale. “Delia had a great game,” said Cook.

“We missed her for a game this week and she came back and really wanted to make it happen on Senior Day. She did great.”

The team’s group of seniors which includes Emily Taylor, Julia Salerno, Madison McNulty, Kate Davis, and Shannon Dudeck in addition to Lawver, has done some great things for the program.

“These girls were sophomores when I got here, it feels like they have been with me forever,” said Cook.

“They are amazing kids. We have had an acronym every season. It was ‘make it happen’ (MIH) this year. We just said our cheer that they made it happen today.”

Cook was happy to see her Class of 2017 go out with a bang this spring.

“We had such a great season and these seniors were such a large part of it,” added Cook.

“It has meant a lot to them. They have driven it and I am just there to support it. They have really loved coming out and I was saying they said that they get to come to practice, they don’t have to come to practice.”

While the emotions of the finale diverted the focus of the Hun players initially, the Raiders came on strong as the game went on.

“I think we were very distracted by Senior Day; we had a presentation so we had a slow start,” said Cook, who got five goals and three assists from her daughter, sophomore star Zoe Cook, in the win with junior Hannah Bunce chipping in four goals and an assist.

“I knew we would get rolling, they had to come together as a unit. I knew it would happen and they did it.”

In Cook’s view, the success experienced this spring has things rolling in the right direction for the program.

“I don’t think I could have asked for a better season last year, I could not have dreamed to have this kind of record for the season,” said Cook.

“I am really happy about how the season went, I am real excited about next year too. I am losing six seniors but I have eight juniors and they are great kids, so we will have a lot of leadership coming up. I feel like we have the seeds that are growing.”

Lawver, for her part, is leaving the program with great memories of the bonds formed with her teammates.

“I think just overall the growth we have had as a team and how close I have gotten with everyone on this team is what I will remember; it is really just like a family,” said Lawver.

“Everything was so great about it. We have had our ups and downs but how it turned out in the end was great.”