Last year West Milford only had a Junior Varsity team for Girls Lacrosse. This year, after gaining a Varsity team the stakes have been raised. Last year, the JV team finished with a record of 10-5-2. Varsity Coach Lugerner has many expectations this season, “It is a transitional year between JV and competitive Varsity games. We have a very young Varsity team that includes six freshmen. I am looking to see what growth and improvement we can make and use this year to our advantage.”

Coach Lugerner has been coaching lacrosse for five years, with this being her third year for coaching lacrosse in West Milford.  She also coaches West Milford’s JV girl’s field hockey team in the fall. Coach Lugerner is very passionate about coaching and it was easy to tell as she explained why she started coaching in the first place, “I was eager to show my love for sports and athletics to a group of young athletes. I enjoy the competition, determination, and dedication it takes to play a sport… My best memory of high school was athletics and I wanted to be able to influence my athletes like my coaches did for me.”

The captains this year are Meghan Curran, Kaitlyn Quigley, and Kristen Polczer. But Coach Lugerner recognizes the other strong players on her team. When asked about leaders on the team she replied, “Danielle Peck in the defensive end. She has a very good understanding of the game and the concept of lacrosse. She uses her mental understanding of the game to help other teammates.”

This year’s lacrosse team seems to have the strength of being very coachable and is very dedicated to lacrosse. Coach Lugerner uses “positive reinforcement, motivation and constructive criticism” to motivate her team to do better. In regards to Counties, Coach Lugerner states, “Counties have not begun. I think we will put up a good fight in Counties and go in to the tournament with a competitive edge… It will be another challenge and a change to show other teams we are here to stay.”

Best of luck West Milford Girls Lacrosse team!