FULL SPEED AHEAD: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Emily Ix (No. 14) races upfield in recant action. Last Monday, senior star Ix tallied six goals and three assists to help Stuart defeat Hamilton West 18-10. The Tartans, who improved to 2-2 with the win, host WW/P-North on April 17. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Even though the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team fell 16-7 to Peddie School in its season opener, Missy Bruvik saw her players improve within the contest.

In the loss to the Falcons on March 30, Stuart trailed 11-1 at halftime but then outscored Peddie 6-5 in the second half.

“We saw a lot of resilience, we have a lot of kids who are first time players on the field for the very first time in a game situation,” said Tartan head coach Bruvik, who has served as assistant coach for the program and has switched roles with Mark Maser, the head coach since 2020.

Bruvik and Maser are working hard to get those newcomers up to speed.

“What is great is we both know the kids; we communicate well together and work well together so it is a team effort,” said Bruvik, whose team topped Rutgers Prep 17-6 on April 3, fell 12-8 to Robbinsville last Thursday, and then defeated Hamilton West 18-10 last Monday. “They are responding to both of us really well. It is just continuing to teach the game while also trying to build that chemistry. They have been really good, the kids are super coachable.”

The Tartans feature two really good players in senior Emily Ix and sophomore Allison Lee to trigger the offense. So far this season Ix has tallied 19 goals and five assists while Lee has piled up 28 points on 26 goals and two assists.

“Emily and Allison are clearly our two most experienced players,” said Bruvik, who got nine goals from Lee in the win over Rutgers Prep and 10 tallies from the sophomore in the victory against Hamilton West. “We have them playing in the midfield and what has been wonderful about them is their ability to communicate their love of the game but also their knowledge to the returning kids as well as the new kids. It is great to see; it helps the coaches, especially when it is game time and they are on the field. They can get some messages across to everybody and the rest of the kids are so receptive to Allison and Emily. They bring the skill and the knowledge and the other kids are working on both.”

On attack, the Tartans will look to senior Sydney Amato, sophomore Emily Harlan, freshman Abby Chirik, freshman Najma Tahiry, sophomore Elise Whang, and junior Harsimar Kaur to help supplement the production of Ix and Lee.

In the midfield, junior Elise Price and senior Margaret Lesinski will be running with Ix and Lee with the attackers rotating back at times.

Across the defense, Stuart will feature junior Leila Washington, sophomore Maya Dev, sophomore Annarose Bourgin, freshman Taylor States, freshman Hadelyn Martinez Cambrero, and freshman Rhea Jain.

“We have Leila Washington who came out for lacrosse for the first time, she brings her athleticism for sure and is super coachable,” said Bruvik of Washington who previously starred for the Stuart basketball team before opting not to play last winter. “Maya is playing defense, but she is going to be in the goal at times. Annarose is playing defense and Taylor is also playing there. Hadelyn is a freshman playing defense. Rhea Jain is a freshman and is going to see time on both offense and defense.”

The pair of Dev and senior Abby Snyder will be rotating at goalie. Dev made six saves in the win over Rutgers Prep while Snyder had seven saves against Hamilton West.

“Mark and I are working with some players that are new goalies to the game,” said Bruvik. “Abby said she will try goalie. It is going to take time for her, she played very well in the scrimmage against Immaculata. She had some opening day jitters against Peddie but the fact that she stepped up is great. The kids are saying what do you need me to do.”

In Bruvik’s view, the Tartans should play better and better as they get more games under their belt.

“They continue to grow every practice for sure,” said Bruvik, whose team hosts WW/P-North in April 17. “In game situations, we will do what we can to adapt to each game. The key is going to be taking those lessons from practice and putting them into game situations as quickly as we can. That is where Allison and Emily come in, they are going to be instrumental. They are the kids with lacrosse experience to help facilitate things on the field, they are so willing and capable. The kids don’t dwell on things, they learn from mistakes. We challenge them at practice to go ahead and make those mistakes. We have got to get up to 100 percent in terms of speed and execution.”