SISTER ACT: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Lauren Lee heads upfield in recent action. Sophomore Lee had a superb season this spring, tallying 21 goals and 12 assists. Lee’s older sister, senior standout Allison, a Williams College commit, led the Tartans with 89 points on 81 goals and 8 assists as the Tartans posted a final record of 6-10. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Saving its best for last, the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team finished the 2025 season by winning its final three games.

Stuart head coach Paige Meszaros was proud of the way her squad kept improving as the spring unfolded as it defeated Immaculate 13-12, Lawrence 12-11, and Wilberforce School 10-7 in its last three contests of the campaign.

“I think it takes us a little while to jell together,” said Meszaros, whose team posted a final record of 6-10. “As the season progressed we get better each game. You definitely see a difference at the end of the season from the beginning.”

In reflecting on that progress, Meszaros saw growth from many of her less experienced performers.

“I would say the young players definitely helped us out quite a bit being that they had a year under their belt of lacrosse and just became better athletes,” said Meszaros. “It definitely helped us. Our defense is pretty strong and they have a better feel for it.”

In its season-ending win over Wilberforce, Allison Lee and Abby Chirik each scored four goals for Stuart.

“Wilberforce is a really nice team,” said Meszaros. “It was a good game, we got to get a lot of our girls some playing time so that was nice to see. It was a whole team effort in the win.”

The team’s senior group of Allison Lee, Emily Harlan, Maya Dev, Lola Lopez-Spencer, Elise Hwang, and Annarose Bourgoin gave the Tartans a great effort in their final campaign.

“They are just the best, the three seniors that were the captains were just such a great help,” said Meszaros, referring to Lee, Harlan, and Dev. “We had a few new seniors with us this year. Annarose and Lola were a really big help too. Annarose changes the whole pace of practice with her effort.”

Williams College commit Lee capped a great career, tallying 81 goals and eight assists this spring as she ended up with a school record 335 goals along with 51 assists.

“All of the girls look up to her, she is a very strong player,” said Meszaros. “She always keeps her head cool, no matter how hard she is getting checked or fouled. She is able to just remain calm. She helps out the other girls. She is more of a strong, silent leader. Allison just leads by example.”

Harlan also produced a strong final campaign, tallying 12 goals and seven assists, including the game-winning goal in the final seconds in the win over Lawrence on Senior Day.

“Emily was a huge help for us back there with our low attack,” said Meszaros. “She could always drive to goal, she made it work. She is always smiling, regardless of what we were doing. If we were doing sprints, she always had a smile on her face. It was contagious for the other girls. She was a really good leader too.”

Junior Chirik had some huge games as she ended up with 18 goals and seven assists.

“Abby started driving a lot more to the goal and putting the ball into the goal,” said Meszaros. “It is something that she has always been able to do. She just started to do it with more confidence this year.”

Lee’s younger sister, sophomore Lauren, played with a lot of confidence this spring, contributing 21 goals and 12 assists.

“Lauren is a great help, she is a really good leader vocally out there,” said Meszaros. “She will pull girls aside and help them with their cradling or just little things to help out. She is a like a coach on the field. I am really excited that she will be there next year.”

Displaying a lot of progress, sophomore Betsy Murphy tallied six goals and five assists.

“This year she hustled a lot more out there, she was one of our most improved players,” said Meszaros. “I would say from the year previously just her effort out there has changed entirely.”

At goalie, freshmen Sophie Vernon (38 saves) and Georgia Spirko-Noto (106 saves) both improved as the season went on.

“We started with Georgia and Sophie really improving as the season progressed so we started using both of them,” said Meszaros. “With their size difference, shooting on them would throw me off. Georgia is big and Sophie is smaller.”

Going forward, Meszaros believes the Tartans can do some big things.

“There is a whole lot of girls coming back,” said Meszaros. “Our sophomore class was really big so that will definitely help us out.”