WILD ROSE: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Rose Tetnowski heads up the field in a game this spring. Senior Tetnowski provided senior leadership to the Stuart back line as the Tartans won two of their last three games to go 5-12. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

Having posted just three wins all spring as of May 10, the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team nearly doubled that total in the last week of the season.

With its offense clicking, Stuart defeated George School (Pa.) 19-8 and the Ranney School 17-5 before falling 18-8 to Pennington in its season finale.

Stuart head coach Kelsey O’Gorman liked the way her team played down the stretch.

“It was really nice, there were team efforts all around,” said O’Gorman, whose squad ended the spring with a 5-12 record.

“We really dominated Ranney from the first draw so that was awesome and we did the same with the George School as well.”

Even though Stuart came up short against Pennington in its last outing, O’Gorman had no qualms with the effort she got from her players.

“We scored the first goal against Pennington; I was really happy that the girls came out really hard,” said O’Gorman.

“We did challenge them in the first half, it was a very close game. They worked to the final whistle so I was really proud of the way they played against a team like Pennington.”

O’Gorman was proud of her senior group that featured Julia Maser, Tori Hannah, Harley Guzman, and Rose Tetnowski.

“There was a lot of personality all through that group, it is going to be a big loss,” said O’Gorman. “They really contributed in many different ways,

Maser and Hannah, who are both going to be competing in college athletics, with Maser heading to Division III Colby College to play lacrosse and Hannah going to Massachusetts-Lowell, to play field hockey at the Division I level, provided a lot of firepower for the Tartans this spring.

“Julia is just a born leader; our leaders were hustlers so it was nice to see,” said O’Gorman of Maser, who tallied 76 goals and 19 assists this season with Hannah chipping in 22 goals and 22 assists.

“She really led by example and the younger girls learned a passion for the game from her. Tori was hurt for a few games and it is never easy being injured. She is not one to sit back. She is just our workhorse, she is a great, great player. She is aggressive and the heart of the team. Even when she was out, she was cheering them on.”

Guzman (26 goals and 12 assists in 2016) and Tetnowski (4 goals and 2 assists) showed a lot of heart as well.

“Harley has a great shot; she is sneaky around the crease; she goes in, they don’t expect it and she comes out of nowhere and scores,” added O’Gorman.

“She was good on defense too; we could throw her anywhere and she would pick it up. Rose was the lone senior defender so that is not an easy role to take on. She was very verbal, she knows the game inside and out. She is a player who does anything for her teammates and she passed on that knowledge to the younger players. She showed lots of character.”

Stuart’s players showed a lot of character collectively as they kept fighting to the end.

“I think overall we really grew, we had a lot of new players,” said O’Gorman.

“I feel like everyone matured as a player; we perfected our transitions and started playing as a full unit. Despite our record, we had a fun year together.”