BIG FINISH: Hun School girls’ lacrosse player Emma Stowe, right, heads upfield in a game this season. Senior star Stowe scored 34 goals to help the Raiders win four of their last five games as they posted a 7-11 record under first-year head coach Marisa Ongaro. (Photo by Frank Jacobs III)
By Justin Feil
It took time, but the Hun School girls’ lacrosse team undoubtedly was playing its best down the homestretch.
The Raiders kept working through a tough start and won four of their final five games, culminating by rallying to a season-ending 9-7 win over Hopewell Valley to finish 7-11 overall after a 2-7 start.
“I think it became more of a team effort,” said Hun first-year head coach Marisa Ongaro. “And I think the trust that takes time to build between players and coaches, coaches to players, and players and players, that doesn’t happen overnight. And, unfortunately, we would have loved to have seen that happen sooner in this season. But it happened when it happened, and that’s totally OK. I think the girls, the coaching staff, all of us are very proud of the work that was put in this season.”
Ongaro, a former Kean University standout who had extensive club and college coaching experience, was hired to take over a team that did not win a game a year ago. She had knowledge of a few players on the roster because of her coaching experience, and that was enough of a starting point.
“As an outsider looking in, I totally knew that this program had potential just because of the prior relationships I had with certain players that I’d coached at the club level and I knew them as individual players and how talented they were on their own,” said Ongaro. “So coming in, I really tried to keep an open mind. I’m looking at it as OK, this team had zero wins last year, we’re going to go in with no expectations. We’re going to, day one, start building trust with these kids, let them know who I am, what I’m here to do, what it is they want done for their program, and how my experience can enhance their time at Hun. It’s all about the player experience.”
Ongaro walked into a group that was open to building a new culture. She brought her approach to a team hungry to develop, relying on her previous experiences to shape how she coached her new team.
“I have found as a coach when you can build that trust with your team and your players know that no matter what their coach is in their corner, they will play their hardest for you and they will give you the world,” said Ongaro. “And that unfortunately takes some time to build, and it did get built this season and we got where we needed to get to this season.”
It wasn’t until their fifth game that they picked up a win with a 21-11 victory over Pennington on April 13 in a Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) contest. Then Hun won another MAPL game as it topped Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 11-10 on April 18. As the second half of the season began, everything they were preaching was beginning to kick in and show up in their play.
“These kids wanted accountability,” said Ongaro. “They wanted help holding themselves accountable. And it was little things like film sessions and scouting reports and just growing their lacrosse IQ. The kids that needed a little bit more of the X and O skill work, having times before practices, after practices, during practices splitting up the coaching staff so that we were able to accomplish that, I think we were able to take strides, both with players as individuals, but as a team as they played together.”
The results showed up in more team play, not relying on one or two players to win games. Hun had to dig even deeper after the loss of Keaton Vales to injury in a game against Princeton High in which they were competitive through the first quarter. They averaged more than 14 goals per game down the home stretch to win four of their final five contests. In their last game, the Raiders rallied in the second half to defeat a solid Hopewell Valley team 9-7 after Ongaro appealed to the players, particularly the seniors, to go out with their best.
“You need to go out there and leave whatever you have left in the tank on that field,” said Ongaro. “And no matter what, when you come off, we’re proud of the work that we put in. And the kids went to work.”
The Raiders displayed a good balance in scoring for the season. Four players had 27 or more goals and 30 or more points. Seniors Vales and Emma Stowe had 34 goals apiece to pace the team. Junior Lynsey Parrott was just behind with 32 goals and had 10 assists as well. Freshman Ali Kamnitsis came on strong with 27 goals.
“The beauty of it all is we said from day one, we don’t look at our players as, you’re a freshman, you’re a sophomore, junior, or senior, we’re one team,” said Ongaro. “We’re all there with the same mission, the same goal in mind. So we don’t look at anyone differently based off their experience with years within the program.”
That approach and experience will be a benefit as Hun aims to build on this season. The younger players were handed responsibility that has helped them gain confidence.
“We’re excited going into next year with the talent that we have returning,” said Ongaro. “I think that these juniors are ready to be pushed and want that leadership role and we’re excited about that. We’ve already been talking about summer training sessions and fall training sessions and they’re really looking forward to it. And then we’ve got some really talented freshmen that were recruited in that we’re excited to get to work with and see how they fit into the system that we have. We have a transfer goalie coming in that’s a junior who’s got some experience under her belt. So it’ll be a really interesting team to watch next year because we do have some really awesome kids returning and then we’ve got some really awesome kids coming in.”
The Raiders will have to replace 10 seniors who were vital to the squad’s improvement. They set the example by buying into the new coaching direction. They brought experience and showed resilience. They gained good insight, too, as Ongaro tried to give them an introduction to some college practices and approaches to a program.
“Their composure and their leadership is something that will be missed, but I think that they’re leaving the program in a really good place and I think they’re happy about the way things ended,” Ongaro said. “I know that the program is in really good hands.”
They helped Hun finish on a strong note. It’s something that they will remember as they move on, and the returning players can take as a good sign for next year. They got tangible evidence for their efforts.
“It proves that the work we’ve been putting in pays off,” said Ongaro. “The ultimate goal at the end is to win games. And it’s frustrating when you put in all this extra work and it doesn’t look like it’s paying off. But when you look back and see that we had win after win after win and to beat a team like Hopewell in your last ever game on your home turf as a senior class, like that was awesome for them. It was awesome for the team and the program.”
The Raiders are looking for the promising finish to be a starting point for next year. Ongaro felt like the Raiders had potential when she took over, and over the season they began to show it on the scoreboard. It’s enough to make believers of the Hun girls’ lacrosse program.
“It was fun to be a part of this program this season, especially with the turnaround that we had from last year,” said Ongaro. “And I think we’re putting Hun lacrosse back on the New Jersey map.”