READY TO GO: Hun School girls’ lacrosse player Kate Davis is poised for action in a game last spring. Last Monday, senior star Davis had an assist in a losing cause as Hun fell 12-11 to Princeton Day School. The Raiders, now 2-1, host Lawrenceville School on April 5 and Stuart Country Day on April 7. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

While the desert may not seem to be a welcoming environment for serious training, the Hun School girls’ lacrosse team thrived on its recent preseason trip to Arizona.

“It was great to go a different way, to go west instead of south,” said Hun head coach Liz Cook, noting that the program has typically gone to Florida for its preseason trip.

“It was all lacrosse, all the time, which was different for us. We were in the middle of the desert. There was not much to do outside of lacrosse so we got to do three-a-days and some early morning sessions which was really fun. It was just tons of team bonding.”

The team’s group of seniors set the tone out west for the Raiders. “My captains (Shannon Dudeck, Delia Lawver, Maddie McNulty) are awesome but there is really no difference between my captains and the rest of the seniors,” asserted Cook.

“The seniors are awesome. They all have such different qualities and they come to the team in different ways and it is all respected by the team. They have bought into my program and to being leaders, on and off the field.”

That leadership is trickling down throughout the squad. “I want to build a family and build great people first before lacrosse players, they have bought into that,” said Cook.

“That was a lot of what our trip to Arizona was about; being a positive leader, what mental toughness means, and what character building means.”

Hun boasts great weapons in the midfield in a quartets of seniors, Kate Davis, Dudeck, Lawver, and Julia Salerno.

“Kate said ‘I like to play attack’ and I said ‘Kate you are such an amazing runner, how can I not have you on my midfield,’” said Cook, whose team has started 2-1, defeating Immaculata 24-14 on March 30 and Blair 14-5 on April 1 before falling 12-11 to Princeton Day School last Monday.

“She is going to play a lot of midfield but she is an attacker. She can run the whole field. I have Shannon and Delia in the midfield. Julie is a defensive-minded player but she can really play that midfield beautifully.”

Junior transfer Hannah Bunce, a former PDS standout, will also give the Raiders a lift in the midfield.

“She is just a force,” said Cook of Bunce, who tallied three goals and two assists on Monday in the loss to her former school. “She can take the draw, she can play the midfield, she can play defense. She has just fit in well.”

On attack, Hun features junior Claudine Chiminski, sophomore Zoe Cook. Junior Piper Schinsky, junior Tarah Sipos, and sophomore Kayla Schaefer.

“Claudine is going to hold our attack down,” said Cook. “Zoe is an attacker. Piper and Tarah are also vying for those spots. Kayla is a new one coming up and she will vie for that as well. We have four or five attackers.”

The defense will be spearheaded by senior star Olivia McNulty. “Olivia McNulty is a great defender. She is coming back from last year,” said Cook.

“Josie Cook is going to lead us on defense along with Julia Salerno. Kendall Nehlig came up late to the varsity last year. She is so coachable and she is going to be great on my defense as well. Kendall Versfeld came up last year and is showing aggressiveness. We have some true defenders back there.”

Cook is planning to use the tandem of senior Maddie McNulty and junior Lauren Cunniff at goalie.

“Maddie was our goalie last year and we have a new goalie, Lauren, who came from Montgomery and is very, very talented as well,” added Cook. “Both of them are going to be sharing that goalie spot.”

With talent throughout the lineup, Cook believes Hun can be a force if it develops a focus on daily improvement.

“They have all of the potential in the world; I have been telling them they can go as far as they want,” said Cook, whose team hosts Lawrenceville School on April 5 and Stuart Country Day on April 7.

“What we learned in Arizona was to take it one game at a time. Instead of looking at our season, which I have done in the past, and saying what is your goal, where do you want to be, I am not doing that this year.”