‘Earning it’ points to Nobles girls’ lacrosse winning its fifth straight ISL championship
DEDHAM — After a 5-point performance in the semifinals against Rivers, Noble and Greenough senior captain Ava Newman (Wellesley) entered the championship game with 99 career points — one away from a major personal milestone.
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Newman knew exactly where she stood. And yet something else was on her mind.
“I was really excited to get it, but I was more focused on getting that trophy,” she said.
One thing led to another for Newman, who is commited to Notre Dame. In the second quarter, she skipped the ball into the net for her 100th career point, and by the end of the game Sunday, she’d secured a hat trick to lift top-seeded Nobles to a 15-7 title win over No. 3 Governor’s Academy.
It’s the school’s fifth consecutive girls’ lacrosse ISL championship.
“It’s so awesome. These girls earned it every step of the way. [Governor’s] is a really great team, and they battled really hard,” said first-year coach Laura Callahan. “I’m really proud of the girls for how they rose up to the occasion.”
With relentless energy, even amid the mid-May heat, the Bulldogs surged to an early lead and were up, 7-2, at halftime. Junior Presley Upton (Dedham), a Princeton commit who was not aware of her pregame point total, scored four times and also tallied her 100th point. Sophomore Maeve O’Reilly (Wellesley) and senior captain Bea Trinque (Brookline), a Richmond commit, also had hat tricks.
“It’s just amazing. This has been my goal, and our goal as a team, for so long. . . . We knew that, being Nobles, we always have a big target on our back, so we were really excited to be able to get [the championship] a fifth time,” said Newman.
Added Upton: “We’re the team they want to beat. They’re coming for us, but we pulled through.”
It wasn’t without some strife. With goals from freshman Ella Vaill, senior Molly Vana, and freshman Quinn Powers, Governor’s made it 8-5 midway through the third quarter.
Nobles quickly slammed the door shut, rallying for five consecutive goals in five minutes after Callahan called a timeout.
“I just knew we had to take a minute, breathe, get them a sip of water. Lacrosse is such a game of momentum, so I wanted to slow down the game for a second, get back on track, refocus, and bring back the confidence they already had,” she said.
Said Newman: “We went back out there with a little bit of swagger.”
This year, the Bulldogs’ motto was “earn it and own it.”
On Sunday, as they screamed in celebration while collecting the trophy, they officially did both.
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