BRING HER A-GAME: Hun School girls’ lacrosse player Ava Olender, right, runs upfield in a game earlier this season. Last Wednesday, sophomore star Olender tallied seven goals and an assist to help Hun defeat Moorestown Friends 16-4. The Raiders, now 3-3, play at the Hill School (Pa.) on April 20 and at the Princeton Day School on April 22 before hosting the Shipley School (Pa.) on April 25. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Kathleen Jaeger wasn’t fazed when her Hun School girls’ lacrosse team started the 2022 season by suffering two lopsided losses.

“We are a relatively young team so the beginning of the season is all about growth,” said Hun head coach Jaeger, whose team fell 15-7 to Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) in its season opener on March 26 and then lost 17-5 to Lawrenceville four days later.

“They were just improving on consistency and learning to manage the highs and lows of the game.”

The Raiders experienced a high when they topped Villa Joseph Marie (Pa.) 18-8 on April 2 to earn their first win of the season.

“It was definitely a good game for the girls to come together all across the field,” said Jaeger, who got six goals from Ava Olender in the victory with Abby O’Brien scoring four and Maggie Maffia and Olivia Kim chipping in three apiece. “We actually played that game on grass so it was an adjustment for them. In that game you saw a lot of different people stepping up. We saw scores from six different people and that was players looking for each other, getting their heads up on the field in transition and not being afraid to be a little more aggressive than they had been in recent games.”

A pair of sophomores, Kim and Olender, have provided a potent one-two offensive punch for Hun.

“Olivia plays more attack and Ava has been more in the midfield,” said Jaeger, whose team defeated Moorestown Friends 16-4 last Wednesday to improve to 3-3 with Olender tallying seven goals and an assist in the victory.

“They have done a very good job of creating space for themselves and finding that space and being aggressive towards the goal. It is fun to see them grow more confident on the field, they held back a little last year.”

The Hun attack had also been bolstered by a trio of juniors in Maffia, O’Brien, and Priscilla Stelmach.

“Abby has been playing more attack, she has been battling an injury this season,” said Jaeger.

“Priscilla and Maggie are the two other midfielders, they do a very good job of leading.”

On defense, junior Tyler Neely and senior Kiki Mauer have been leading the way.

“Tyler is our very strong leader on defense, she is calling everyone together in the moment,” said Jaeger. “It is amazing to watch her play in the moment, she will teach the person next to her because we have newer girls on our defensive end this year. She has been that verbal lacrosse IQ leader back there. Kiki is this all-around girl, she is very coachable. She can also play midfielder for us a little bit even though she doesn’t have any attacking experience.”

Junior Angelina Vitale provides experience and leadership at goalie.

“Her confidence in net stands out,” said Jaeger. “She also does a really good job of pulling in those defenders after each goal and saying this is where the breakdown was and this is how we can fix it. To watch her share that with her teammates is fun. I see a big transition in her.”

With the Raiders playing at the Hill School (Pa.) on April 20 and at the Princeton Day School on April 22 before hosting the Shipley School (Pa.) on April 25, Jaeger is looking for her squad to keep playing with the confidence they have displayed over the last few weeks.

“I think one of the main focuses is to continue playing to our strengths; there is a lot going on the field at one time and we have to go with whatever is working in that given game,” said Jaeger.

“Most of all, it is just working together all of the time. I think it is getting on the same page at both ends of the field and continuing to get more set in our transition. That was a struggle in the beginning of the season. We are getting back into the rhythm and reading each other. I am very excited.”