Newcomers bolster ConVal girls’ lacrosse as they learn

ConVal's Grace O'Brien heads up the sideline.

ConVal's Grace O'Brien heads up the sideline. BEN CONANT—BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

ConVal's Hannah Daniels gets a shot on goal.

ConVal's Hannah Daniels gets a shot on goal. BEN CONANT / BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

ConVal's Makayla Lamothe keeps a Lebanon attacker at bay.

ConVal's Makayla Lamothe keeps a Lebanon attacker at bay. BEN CONANT—BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

 ConVal's Allison Burgess is first to a 50/50 ball.

 ConVal's Allison Burgess is first to a 50/50 ball. BEN CONANT—BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

ConVal’s Aubrey Niemela minds the net. 

ConVal’s Aubrey Niemela minds the net. 

ConVal's Emma O'Brien races upfield with the ball.

ConVal's Emma O'Brien races upfield with the ball. BEN CONANT—BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

ConVal's Hannah Daniels on the attack.

ConVal's Hannah Daniels on the attack.

ConVal’s Libby Nadeau tracks down the ball.

ConVal’s Libby Nadeau tracks down the ball.

ConVal’s Zadie Marshall takes a draw.

ConVal’s Zadie Marshall takes a draw.

ConVal's Nora Whicker looks to pass around a Lebanon defender during the Cougar girls' lacrosse team's 10-8 loss to the visiting Raiders in Peterborough on Monday.

ConVal's Nora Whicker looks to pass around a Lebanon defender during the Cougar girls' lacrosse team's 10-8 loss to the visiting Raiders in Peterborough on Monday. BEN CONANT / BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

 Strong defense from ConVal's Isabelle Jobin.

 Strong defense from ConVal's Isabelle Jobin. BEN CONANT—BEN CONANT PHOTOGRAPHY

By BEN CONANT

For the Ledger-Transcript

Published: 05-21-2025 12:03 PM

Modified: 05-23-2025 10:37 AM

The ConVal girls' lacrosse team had a surprise boost in numbers this spring, as several athletic seniors decided to try their hand with a new sport in their final season.

 

The result? A talented team that's in need of some developmental time - time they don't have. Nonetheless, the Cougars are fun to watch, as evidenced in their exciting 10-8 loss to top-tier Lebanon Monday. According to head coach Kevin Carne, they're fun to coach, too. 

"It's the best team I've ever coached in lacrosse," said Carne, who has served as assistant, JV and now varsity coach in the past 10 years at ConVal. "It really is. It's the attitude. These girls listen and they work hard at it and work together. A lot of years, you have teams that don't work together very well; they have a lot of talent, but when they don't work well together, we don't have 10-8 against Lebanon." 

Longtime laxers like seniors Hannah Daniels (midfield) and Aubrey Niemela (goalkeeper) got some reinforcements this spring, as soccer players with no lacrosse experience signed up to give it a go. That has been paying off in spades. Izzy Jobin has stepped right into a prominent role. Abby Rodenhiser, who missed Monday's game due to injury, takes all ConVal's draws and is as solid as a first-year player can be, and Allison Burgess can score seemingly at will; her combination of athleticism and desire led her to score five of ConVal's eight goals on Monday. 

"The ones that just came to the sport. What they've put out is remarkable, but that's the kind of athletes they are,” Carne said. “I'm asking [them] to learn six or eight years of lacrosse in about two or three months."

Adding those newcomers to the already experienced Cougars has been a successful experiment. The ConVal defense is strong, with senior Libby Nadeau and juniors Makayla Lamothe and Charley Pyle-Cunningham in front of the net flanking Niemela and the two-way versatility of Daniels.

 

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The O'Brien sisters, Grace and Emma, take turns running the sidelines to create offense. Junior Nora Whicker keeps the ball moving in the attacking zone, and junior Zadie Marshall (three goals) adds a dynamic element. 

ConVal held tough against perennially talented Lebanon (6-3) Monday, staying within a couple goals the entire game. Burgess tied the game at 2-2 early in the second period, but after Lebanon scored five straight to extend it to 7-2, the Cougars had too much ground to make up in their comeback effort. They had a brief glimmer of hope in the fourth, when Marshall scored two goals in just 11 seconds to bring ConVal to within one at 9-8, but the Raiders answered and put it away. 

The team is 4-7, and Monday's loss was their fifth straight. Even so, Carne said he thinks his team is outperforming expectations given their inexperience, and that they still have a shot at a Division III playoff berth. Either way, the team is having fun, and so is coach. 

"I just love to coach them," Carne said. "They're so much fun to coach, they really are, just watching them get better and better every time."

ConVal is scheduled to play at Pembroke (1-8) Wednesday, and then host Bow (8-3) Friday.