Destiny comes in fours and three Leonardtown High School seniors graduated after winning four-straight Southern Maryland Athletic Conference girls lacrosse championships.
A 23-3 win over Great Mills on May 4 sealed it all, giving the Raiders their seventh consecutive SMAC title as a program.
A conference record of 44-0 is something Loren Day, Kate Finkelston and Reese Gassie, the three four-year varsity members of the Leonardtown girls lacrosse team, said they couldn’t have planned for.
“It’s amazing and I can’t even comprehend it,” Gassie said after that game. “Coming into Leonardtown lacrosse, I didn’t think or didn’t really understand how strong of a team it is, how special it would be to be SMAC champs four years in a row or maintain that undefeated season each and every time. It’s an honor to be a part of it really.”
Finkelston, a midfielder who went on to win All-SMAC and All-County honors, was also honored as a first-team US Lacrosse All-American and received the Leonardtown High School Outstanding Player Award for the 2011-12 season.
She finished with 55 goals, 44 assists, 77 draw controls and 14 groundballs.
“We’ve been through all of it and we’ve been with the girls that were here when we were freshmen,” Finkelston said after the game. “It’s just really nice because we’ve seen the team progress. Even though we’ve been winning SMAC championships, we’ve seen the team progress and keep that legacy going.”
Finkelston, Day and Gassie had seen the prior three years end in the Class 4A-3A East Region semifinal round, but they and the Raiders reached the regional championship game for the first time in program history on May 16.
Leonardtown hosted fifth-seeded Severna Park of Anne Arundel County, which entered the game on an emotional spin after the death of one of their players just a few days prior. The Raiders were up 9-6 at halftime, but fell 13-12 in the final seconds.
Day, an attacker, received All-SMAC and All-County honors, finishing the season with 42 goals, 16 assists and 18 draw controls.
Gassie, also an attacker who received All-SMAC and All-County honors, had with 26 goals, nine assists and nine groundballs.
TAMMY SHOWALTER