By Christine Sampson
There had been a few hardships in getting uniforms, and the jerseys still weren't going to be ready for the team's first organized game, a scrimmage against Sacred Heart from Long Island. McDonagh's coach, Matt Sarosy, sat the team down in his classroom and told the girls a story about his cousin, Michael Kiefer, a Brooklyn firefighter who had died while responding to the call on Sept. 11.And then Sarosy handed out their first team shirts, which Kiefer's family had donated to the team in memory of their son. The girls wore them for their first game.”It was a big moment. I think it changed everyone,” McDonagh said. “It was the first real moment when we actually felt like a team. It brought us together.”Defining moments like that are coming with more and more frequency these days for the brand-new Mary Louis girls lacrosse team, the first of its kind among the city's Catholic schools, and only the second girls lacrosse program in the city.A few miles away, at Cardozo High School, Ron Edson's squad has met a few challenges of its own. The Judges, who began playing lacrosse last year and this year was granted varsity status by the PSAL, have only one other opponent in their league – Tottenville – which inevitably means a lot of traveling to Staten Island.But at least Cardozo has the opportunity for league play. Mary Louis, on the other hand, won't have that chance until next season, when it joins the Nassau/Suffolk CHSAA girls lacrosse league. The lack of competition is just one issue for the fledgling squads, which face a host of obstacles- – competing with other, more popular spring sports teams for participants, finding support for their endeavors among their peers, and gaining the necessary skills and experience to play in competitive games.Cardozo split a pair of games with Tottenville this year, while Mary Louis was 0-2 in its first two games, but will have played five by the end of this season – including two against Cardozo. “We're in the same boat,” said Sarosy, adding that Edson has helped his own team out. “(Cardozo's) coach is amazing. The girls, they had a blast. You could tell it was the beginning of something. It could develop into a nice little rivalry for Queens.”Before the Mary Louis team could even pick up sticks, though, there was work to be done. First, they ran.”A lot of girls who couldn't even run a block at the beginning of the season are now running two or three miles a day,” said McDonagh, the team's starting center. “You really need to get on top of (getting in shape).”Of course there were the stick skills and field work – of which they learn something new every day, says junior d-wing Stephanie Travers. “Right now we're just working on the basics and getting used to playing,” she said.Probably the toughest part, though, was actually learning the game. The team traveled to Long Island to watch Kellenberg play St. Anthony's.”If you're on Long Island, it's easier for other girls,” said Sarosy, who coached girls lacrosse last year at Sacred Heart. “When you were little you would have gone to a sister's game or a cousin's game. If you understand the type of game it is, you'll be that much further (along).”And then came the first game, that scrimmage against Sacred Heart, which Mary Louis lost, 6-2.”You probably wouldn't have even known it was our first game,” McDonagh said. “Everyone kept up with the other team and we didn't drop that many balls.”Though starting the team was the idea of the administration, which has been “incredible in terms of backing it,” Sarosy said, McDonagh and Travers said, “it's tough because their peers still don't recognize the 25 lacrosse players as a team.”It could be just a matter of time, though, before girls lacrosse gains a better foothold in Queens. According to a recent Sports Illustrated story, it is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., with more schools developing programs in girls lacrosse than any other sport.St. Francis Prep has plans to start a team next season; Molloy is rumored to be thinking it over. But whatever the case may be, the girls from Cardozo and Mary Louis can certainly vouch for the lessons they've learned as rookie lacrosse players.”In the end,” Travers said, “whether the score reflects it or not, we're going to be winners because of how far we've come already.”Reach contributing writer Christine Sampson by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
