They are two of the newer girls lacrosse programs in the Suburban One League.
But players on William Tennent and Quakertown see bright futures for both programs.
Quakertown traveled to William Tennent last Thursday for an SOL American Conference game won by Quakertown, 21-3.
“We’re in a tough conference and we don’t have a lot of wins,” said Quakertown junior Katelyn Landis, who also plays soccer. “There’s times when that’s discouraging but mostly we just use that as motivation. We take those losses and learn from them. From the beginning of the season, we’ve grown so much and it’s really cool to see.
“We’ve really come together as a team. We’re getting the younger players involved and working with us. We’re definitely pointed toward next year. We’re going to miss our seniors but there aren’t as many as we’ve had in past years. We’re going to keep working our way up.
“There’s also good youth coming up for next year so to add them to the mix next year we’ll be able to build on what we’ve done this year. It’s exciting to be a part of that.”
Casey Rosenberger and Ciara Mory led Quakertown with four goals apiece, while Sunny Draper and Kayla Glaeser each had three goals, Maddie Taylor netted a pair of goals and Molly Kowaleski, Keira Shaw, Cass Landis, Maddie Kocher and Paige Longacre each registered a single tally.
“We have a very young team,” said Taylor, a junior who also plays soccer. “We lost a lot of people from last year so we had to rebuild everything.
“Things are going well. We’re building a strong bond and everyone’s working hard to make us a better team. I think it’s very important to bond because that helps the team dynamic and gets everyone to play well together.
“I see a good future for us. We’re working really hard and I think it will all come together for us. I love how everyone works together and how we get better every single day.”
Tennent had freshman Leai Winter in goal. It was her first-ever appearance between the pipes, stepping in for absent Tiana Danas. Winter, typically an attack player or defender, made 10 saves.
“She was impressive,” Tennent coach Susan Lorenzon said. “I’m very proud of her. For never being out there before, she wasn’t afraid of the ball and she took hits in the chest and the head. Our regular goalie is a senior and Leai said she likes it so she could be stepping in next year.”
Olivia Jakimoski scored twice and Laney Del Rossi had one goal for Tennent.
“It’s frustrating to be in a league like this because the other teams are really good and we’re not going to win many games,” said Tennent junior Haley Everly, who also plays field hockey. “But every time we play against them, we learn something and we get a little bit better.
“For me, the positives of this team are the friends I’ve made and watching us grow. We’ve come so far since my freshman year and I’m really excited to see what we can do next year.
“I want to see how much we get better and I want to see us continue the bonds that we’ve made.”
One of the challenges for the Tennent program is the lack of a feeder program.
“It’s harder for us because we have to start with the basics and that takes time,” said Christiane Bonhage, Tennent’s senior captain who also played soccer. “Girls start their freshman year here with no skills where at other schools, those girls have the fundamentals down pat.
“For us, it’s all about building. Over the past four years we’ve built such a good bond on the field and off and that’s helped us communicate on the field. As a team, we’ve really grown. We’ve been working on our skills to be able to be more competitive and I think that will come with time.”
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