ON POINT: Hun School girls’ lacrosse first-year head coach Marisa Ongaro instructs her players in a game earlier this season. Under Ongaro, the Raiders have been making progress as they have won two of their last four games, including a 19-2 win over the Shipley School (Pa.) last Saturday. The Raiders, who improved to 3-7 with the victory over Shipley, will be starting play in the Prep A state tournament where they are seeded sixth and will play at third-seeded Blair Academy on April 29 in a quarterfinal contest. In addition, the Raiders will play at Princeton High on May 1 and at Princeton Day School on May 4 in regular season matchups. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Justin Feil
Marisa Ongaro came to the Hun School looking to usher in a new era for its girls’ lacrosse program.
Buoyed by a big buy-in from her senior class, the new head coach has been working to foster a healthy culture for the Raiders all season, and now in the final month the process is showing up in the results. Hun’s 19-2 win over the Shipley School (Pa.) last Saturday on Senior Day was its second win in four games as the Raiders improved to 3-7 going into an important week that includes a Prep A state tournament game at Blair on April 29.
“Our goal is to define what Hun lacrosse is and build the foundation for what’s to come in the years to follow,” said Ongaro. “And the girls really are doing a great job with that.”
In the win over Shipley, senior Keaton Vales had nine points on seven goals and two assists to pace the offense. Junior Lynsey Parrott scored a hat trick and added an assist while senior Emma Stowe scored once and supplied three assists and senior Aspen Swanson had a pair of goals plus an assist.
“We laid that foundation and now we’re in a really good place and I think we’re starting to make those strides that I as a coach would have liked to have seen earlier on in the season but I understand that it’s a work in progress,” said Ongaro. “They understand it’s a work in progress and really great things take time and that’s just where we’re at right now. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we picked up a couple more wins over the next two and a half, three weeks as our season finishes out.”
In the Prep A quarterfinal matchup, sixth-seeded Hun will be looking to turn the tables on third-seeded Blair who topped the Raiders 15-7 on April 23 in a regular season meeting.
“It’s about keeping them motivated and engaged,” said Ongaro. “And there’s a lot of different ways people can learn and respond to the way you’re teaching the game and these concepts.”
Ongaro was new to Hun but not a new face to most of her players. A former lax star in Mercer County down Route 206 at Notre Dame High who went on to play collegiately at Kean University, Ongaro has a wealth of coaching experience to lean on. She coached collegiately as an assistant at Delaware Valley and then served as the head coach at Holy Family. In addition as a club coach and director, she forged relationships with six of this year’s 10 seniors. She quickly worked to gain the trust of the rest of the team, beginning with the assurance that she envisioned being at Hun a long time. She’s the team’s fourth new head coach in four seasons.
“The biggest thing when I stepped in, which helped me get right to work here, was letting these kids know I’m not going anywhere; I care about you as a person,” said Ongaro. “It’s not about lacrosse. It’s about your experience. And that really helped them buy into our system. And we were able to hit the ground running right away.”
Ongaro worked to ensure that the players knew it was their program and their footprint would shape it. With players having a wide range of experience and abilities, each was looking for somewhat different things out of playing.
“It was just about letting them know, I care about you as a person, as a player, it’s more than just a game,” said Ongaro. “I told them, whether you’re with me for this season, or whether you’re with me for the next four years, my goal is to give you this empty, ‘toolbox.’ And we’re going to go over what necessary tools are needed in that toolbox to help you both in lacrosse and in life. And we talk about leadership styles, leadership skills, communication skills, team building, how to be a team player. And I think the girls really rose to the challenge with that.”
While the Raiders haven’t talked about wins and losses, the victories, though, have started to come. They defeated Pennington on April 13 for their first win since May 5, 2024.
“When we got our first win, that was our first win in almost two years since they didn’t win any games last year,” said Ongaro, whose team will also be playing at Princeton High on May 1 and at Princeton Day School on May 4 in regular season matchups. “And that was a tough thing, for the girls when we were losing the first couple games. And then we got that win and it was just like a sigh of relief from them, like finally things are starting to click.”
Ongaro credits a 10-strong senior class for coming into the season with an open attitude and supporting her early message to the team. They have been critical in implementing the new outlook for the program.
“When they were freshmen, they had a really strong senior class for them to look up to,” said Ongaro. “And they had a really strong coaching staff. That was why they came in, right? They had goals, they had visions for what they thought their four years would look like. And whatever happened between their starting and now when they’re finishing, none of that matters. All that matters is that we were able to accomplish the goal of bringing this team back and bringing life back into the team and bringing energy back into the team.”
The energy the seniors shared with the team was the single biggest factor in starting to build back up the Raiders, who only a couple of years ago enjoyed back-to-back nine-win seasons. This year’s seniors have set a positive example of how to lead.
“Their energy is everything,” said Ongaro. “I think that they bring the energy every single day. Again, they had great people to look up to when they first started out and I think that they really set the bar high for the expectations of what’s to come for the next group coming in.”
Some of them will continue on in college, some will not play after Hun. Stowe is going to be heading to play at St. Lawrence University and Swanson will play at the University of Tampa. Others just enjoyed the chance to play one final season in high school and are more committed to other sports.
“Having so many different unique sports backgrounds on the team really helps bring the athletic ability together,” said Ongaro. “They’re a great group of kids. From day one, they were like, we want to be pushed, we want to be challenged, we want to win. And that’s just what we’ve been doing. We’ve been pushing, we’ve been challenging, we’ve been growing their knowledge. And each day we get a little bit further, which is what the goal was.”
There was rain predicted for their Senior Day, but it cleared up for the Hun girls to play Saturday. Now the outlook couldn’t be brighter after they added a big win to what’s been a season of growth and learning thanks to their dedication from the top.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this journey with them,” said Ongaro.
“And I wish that we had the seniors for longer, but unfortunately the circumstances are what they are. They’re an amazing class. They stayed true to the program. They stayed committed to the program. And I think that says a lot about their commitment to the school and lacrosse and they’ve definitely laid the foundation for what’s to come hopefully in the next couple years with defining success for the program.”