ON THE ATTACK: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Ali Hannah heads up the field in a game this spring. Last week, senior star attacker Hannah tallied seven goals and two assists to help Stuart defeat Rutgers Prep 12-5. The Tartans, who defeated Hamilton 13-4 last Monday with Hannah scoring six goals to improve to 3-4, play at Hightstown on April 25, and at Princeton Day School on April 28 before hosting Lawrence High on May 1. Stuart will also be starting play in the state Prep B tournament. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Ali Hannah was determined to keep things simple as she hit the field for the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team when it hosted Rutgers Prep last week. 

“I try to be aggressive all the time,” said senior attacker Hannah.

“We do personal and team goals before the game and my personal goal was to stay aggressive and really fight for those re-defending positions on attack.”

Hannah displayed her aggressiveness from the start of the April 17 contest, tallying seven goals and two assists in the first half as the Tartans built an 11-1 halftime lead on the way to a 12-5 win.

For Hannah, the outburst represented a breakthrough as she hadn’t produced up to her normal standards so far this spring.

“I did have a slow start with my goals,” said Hannah. “I wasn’t clicking like I did in previous seasons but now, personally, I have gotten my rhythm down and my mindset straight.”

The Tartans clicked collectively, finding their rhythm as they are getting on the winning track.

“This is our second win, so that is really exciting,” said Hannah, who helped Stuart pickup its third win, scoring six goals as the Tartans defeated Hamilton 13-4 last Monday in improving to 3-4.

“We have been working a lot on our passing and connecting passes down the field so that has improved a lot. We have to make sure we are going after those 50/50 balls and really everyone is hustling. We just can’t have one person on the 50/50 balls, we need to have more people so we can be competitive. I think we really picked it up.”

Picking up her conditioning as she prepares to play field hockey next fall for Rider University has helped Hannah hustle more on the lacrosse field this spring.

“I am really working on my fitness because, going into the fall, I want to be fit so I can work on my stick skills for the Rider team,” said Hannah.

“I worked over the winter and was in the gym every day. I feel like that is really helping me with my stamina and being able to stay in the game 100 percent for the whole 60 minutes.”

Stuart head coach Missy Bruvik liked the 100 percent effort she got from her team in the win over Rutgers Prep.

“That was a good game, I am thrilled that we had all of our kids today,” said Bruvik. “We had a full squad, everybody was back healthy and ready to go today.”

Bruvik sensed that Hannah was ready to have a big game. “Ali was much more aggressive today, she went hard to the goal,” said Bruvik. 

“I thought her shot placement was so much better and she was very aware of it. We worked yesterday at practice on where you should not be shooting and she really pressed on it.” 

Sophomore Caroline Mullen and senior Gin Gin Plehn gave the Tartans some very good work.

“Caroline will go from attack to defense and she doesn’t force things,” said Bruvik, who got two goals from Mullen  against Rutgers prep with Grace Sheppard adding two and Plehn tallying one.

“She is smart, she takes her time. She doesn’t hurry and cause turnovers, which is really important. Gin Gin has a nose for the ball and a nose for the goal.”

The Tartans also played a smart game defensively against Rutgers Prep.

“The offense was clicking, but I thought the defensive unit really worked well,” said Bruvik.

“They did a great job anticipating and trying to ride kids down the sidelines better.”

In Bruvik’s view, the performance could be the harbinger of better things to come for the Tartans.

“This is the first game where you could see their confidence on the field and that aggressiveness,” said Bruvik.

“We weren’t taking a step backwards, we were taking all of their steps forward. They were quick off the draw today. Their first couple of steps were much quicker than we have seen. We didn’t play defensively. We played aggressively and offensively. We were worked better as an attack team; we moved the ball better today.”

Hannah, for her part, believes that the Stuart players have to keep their heads in the game from beginning to end.

“I think it is mentality throughout the whole game,” said Hannah. “In previous games, we have had little lulls in our focus. We just need to build our endurance with our mentality and keep the mental focus.”