(Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption: SHOW OF STRENGTH: Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse player Carly O’Brien heads to goal in a game last season. Utilizing her strength and finishing skills, junior attacker O’Brien has scored a team-high 16 goals to help PDS get off to a 3-1 start. In upcoming action, the Panthers host Holy Cross on April 14 and Hopewell Valley on April 16 before playing at Hun on April 20.

Junior Star O’Brien Powering the Attack as PDS Girls’ Lax Looking Formidable

Bill Alden

Carly O’Brien started her junior season on the Princeton Day School girls’ lacrosse team with a bang, scoring four goals against Peddie in the opener on March 31.

But O’Brien left the field disappointed that day as PDS fell 18-9 to Peddie.

“It was a good wake-up call,” said O’Brien in reflecting on the loss. “We knew that it was one of the better teams and that we have to step up.”

O’Brien quickly put that setback in the rear view mirror, continuing her hot play as she scored four goals in the Panthers 15-5 win over Pennington and then added four more in PDS’s 14-4 victory over Stuart.

“We just went out there and played really hard,” said O’Brien, reflecting on the win over Stuart. “The last couple of games we needed to work on our chemistry and today we just really had it.”

The athletic junior has assumed more offensive responsibility in the wake of the graduation of top scorers Cammie Linville and Mariel Jenkins.

“We definitely had to fill in for them; they were a really big loss,” said O’Brien referring to Linville, now playing for the Lafayette women’s lax team, and Jenkins, who is on Harvard’s squad. “I think we are doing a good job of keeping up.”

While O’Brien has gained confidence with two seasons under her belt, she doesn’t look at herself as a go-to player.

“I guess being an upperclassman makes a difference,” said O’Brien. “Every person on the team adds to it; we don’t have certain players that are the main players. We spread things out.”

PDS head coach Jill Thomas likes the balance she is seeing from her squad. “You have got to have all kinds of people who can put it in the net,” said Thomas.

“When you have only one or two, they can key on you. We hope it continues because we’ve got to have everyone keep putting it in.”

Thomas certainly expects O’Brien to put in a lot of goals this season. “Carly gets the ball and you can’t stop her; she is strong” said Thomas of O’Brien who produced another four-goal effort last Friday as PDS topped Rutgers Prep 11-1 to improve to 3-1.

“She uses her positioning and her stick very well. She can put the ball in the net. It’s strength but it also a gift. She is a finisher and she is believing much more in herself this season.”

Senior midfielder Courtland Lackey has emerged as a strong presence for the Panthers.

“Courtland believes in what we believe in; you shoot for the moon and you give it everything you have and you are going to land among the stars,” said Thomas.

“She is playing in the center right now. She can go full field and she will give you everything she has got. She is a great communicator with her teammates and is a great leader.”

Junior goalie Jess Frieder turned in a great performance in the win over Stuart, making seven saves.

“She played a terrific game; the best game she has played all season,” asserted Thomas, noting the PDS defense is missing Frieder’s twin sister, Ali, who is out for the season with a knee injury.

“I think when her twin sister [Ali] went down in Florida with an ACL injury, we have been piecing it together on defense and Jess has been trying to figure that out. We just told her your job is to stop the ball and she came in here and she just did it.”

Thomas likes the way her team has been doing its job in the wake of the opening day loss to Peddie.

“It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish,” said Thomas, whose club faces some tough tests this week as it hosts Holy Cross on April 14 and Hopewell Valley on April 16 before playing at Hun on April 20.

“If that’s the top, we know what we have to do to get to the top. We could have easily said “oh” and folded but that’s where they wanted to be.”

O’Brien, for her part, thinks the Panthers can go far this spring. “I definitely think we are the best team we have had so far,” said O’Brien. “We have really good potential.”

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