With no District 11, Eastern Pennsylvania Conference or any tournament for that matter, played last season, the Parkland High School girls lacrosse team was the last program in the 3A classification system to raise the district trophy. The Trojans are four-time defending district champions and will look to continue that streak this season.

But without playing at all last season, Parkland will be tasked with building chemistry on a team with a majority of players that may lack extensive varsity experience.

Head coach Dawn Cipolla knows she has another strong team capable of playing for league and district championships, but she also knows that it is a newer team that has not played competitive lacrosse in a year.

“I think some of our strengths are we are athletic, aggressive and play with a tenacity,” said Cipolla. “It will just come down to figuring out the new team chemistry after a year of not playing together.”

From the program which last played in 2019, some of the top returnees to the lineup include seniors Jess Brey, Emily Green, Katey Kunz, Maeve Leonzi, Sophie Marcotte and Mayo Sukanick, along with juniors Nicki Boyer and Morgan Napolitano.

Some newcomers that will be competing for playing time include Ava Bornstein, Hannah Car, Sophia DeLaVega, Morgan Dobil, Ella Esteban, GiGi Leonzi, Jenny Pope, Taryn Poremba, Darby Reyburn and Hailey Smith.

Parkland’s goals are “to be the best team we can be with hard work, determination, and never giving up,” Cipolla said. “With the combination of all three of these things, hopefully we will be able to bring our game to a whole new level. We want to be seen as a competitor by every team we face, also be playing into June, because that is when the postseason games are.”

Parklands’ season opens with a home game against Nazareth Friday, March 26. Cipolla and her team are happy to be able to hit the turf once again together.

“Just being together as a team on the field is exciting,” said Cipolla. “All of the girls are working hard, and it’s easy to see they really missed playing last year. This is evident in this year’s team motto, which was chosen by the seniors ‘Don’t take today for granted.’”