ABBY ROAD: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Abby Chirik, center, sprints upfield last Wednesday as Stuart hosted Robbinsville. Junior midfielder Chirik scored a goal in a losing cause as the Tartans fell 16-3 to the Ravens. Stuart, now 0-3, hosts Princeton Day School on April 17 and Pope John on April 22. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

There is no down time for Abby Chirik when it comes to her athletic pursuits.

Chirik is a three-sport star at Stuart Country Day School, competing for its field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse teams. In her spare time, she plays club soccer year-round.

“I like to be busy, I like to play a sport every season,” said junior Chirik. “I like to just get involved and to get to know everyone in school itself. I also play club soccer on the side. I like having a change every season.

Last Wednesday, as the Stuart lacrosse team trailed Robbinsville 10-1 in the third quarter, Chirik got busy in the crease, slotting in a rebound for a goal.

“I was in front of the goal and the ball was on the ground, so I just picked it up and shot it,” said Chirik, reflecting on her tally.

While the Tartans ended up losing 16-3 to the Ravens in dropping to 0-3, Chirik liked the way the squad kept scrapping to the final whistle.

“We just had to keep our heads up because we were down; we just had to take it slow and go one at a time,” said Chirik. “We talked about trying to keep possession. We didn’t want to force passes because every possession matters especially when we didn’t have as many possessions. We wanted to make sure that we kept it and worked the ball around and didn’t force anything. The score was a wide gap so we ran out of time. I think we all did well, we hustled to the end.”

With her experience playing for three Stuart programs, Chirik is taking on a leadership role this spring.

“As a freshman, I started playing mid,” said Chirik, who has tallied two goals and one assist so far this season. “I was just like kind of getting into it but now as a junior, I started to step into a leadership role and try to help the underclassmen out. We get a lot of girls every year who are new to the game. As upperclassmen, we are trying to help them get adjusted and be a team like all together.”

Playing with the Lee sisters, senior star Allison and sophomore standout Lauren, has helped Chirik hone her lax skills.

“It is pretty fun, they are really team players,” said Chirik. “They make sure to include everyone and talk to everyone about what they need to do and what we need to do as a team. They are really helpful to tell us what we need to be doing. They know the game really well. They are able to talk to us and tell us, ‘try to do this or to do that.’”

Stuart head coach Paige Meszaros has had fun watching Chirik’s impact on the game.

“Abby is one of those players that is everywhere you need her to be,” said Meszaros. “She jumps in anywhere you need her. She is coming back from a cold too, but you would never know. She will have two practices a day, she will go from here to soccer. She has helped us tremendously.”

The Lee sisters have been a big help for the Tartans as Allison has tallied 16 goals this season while Lauren has chipped in four goals and one assist.

“Allison is always somebody we can count on,” said Meszaros.

“Both Allison and Lauren are really great with how they work together. They always jump in and say some things, they do a great job with that.”

With Stuart falling behind 10-1 by halftime, Meszaros credited her players with not getting discouraged by the deficit.

“It was just going out with some intensity and not giving up and keeping our heads held high,” said Meszaros. “They did a good job.”

The Tartans got some intense play against Robbinsville from sophomore Betsy Murphy and freshman goalie Georgia Spirko-Noto.

“Betsy jumped into midfield for us today, she is usually an attacker,” said Meszaros. “She has stepped it up from last year. She is sprinting everywhere, she is hustling the entire time. It is good to see. Georgia has been really helpful for us this year. We love having her back there. She is doing a good job, especially with it being her first year playing goal.”

With the Tartans having lost a pair of one-goal decisions to start the season (11-10 to WW/P-North on April 2 and 12-11 to Hamilton West on April 4), Meszaros believes her squad is poised for a breakthrough.

“They are learning things from each previous game, they have good takeaways from it,” said Meszaros, whose team hosts Princeton Day School on April 17 and Pope John on April 22. “The new girls all play different sports which is helping translating into lacrosse. It is good to be be able to have them, they already have that intensity.”

Chirik, for her part, is confident that Stuart will apply those lessons to start coming up with some wins.

“We have had close games,” said Chirik, “We are getting there, we are working together as a team well. We are working on putting it together to the end. I think it is coming in the next few games.”