Building a sports program from the bottom up isn’t for everyone. It takes hard work and dedication and most likely losing—at least at the start.
Three years ago when Ashley King took the reins of the Riverhead girls lacrosse program, she was determined to create a winner. It wasn’t going to happen overnight and she was well aware of that.
The results are in. Wins and losses have been recorded. Stats don’t lie.
In her first season as varsity coach, King posted a 2-12 record in Division I league play. Last year, Riverhead doubled that win total and finished 5-9. This season, she expects to improve again; even though her star player, Carolyn Carrera, who now plays at Hofstra Univsersity has graduated.
“We have 10 seniors this year,” King said. “These are girls who have been part of this program since it’s been around. They’ve been through our program and it’s safe to say that Riverhead may surprise some teams this year as we have the deepest bench we’ve ever had.”
Among those who stand out immediately would be midfielders Amanda Dickerson, who will attend Pace University for lacrosse next year and junior Courtney Troyan. The defense will be led by seniors Johanna Messina and Amanda Baron. Jessica Purick, a senior, will start in goal.
“We’re going to be pretty versatile this year,” King said. “I’m going to be moving girls around all season.”
Seniors Samantha Brodeur and Rachel Doroski will be on attack along with sophomore Alyssa Romer.
King brought on three eighth-graders to varsity this year and she expects them to be competitive.
“They’ve competed at this level before over the summer and winter so I’m not really worried about them not being able to compete,” King said. “The bench is really deep so we’ll be able to use a lot of players to keep fresh legs out on the field.”
It’s a luxury King never seemed to have.
“In the past I’ve had to keep the starters out there almost the whole game,” King said. “I would look down the line and try to figure out who I should put in but this year I won’t have that problem. I should be able to just about get everyone in.”
Ultimately King’s goal is to improve the team’s record. Riverhead was seeded 19th out of the 21 teams in Division I so they’ll get a chance at the lower ranked teams in the division.
“Last year we always looked to Carolyn to bail us out in situations,” King said. “This year we will be more of a team. Anyone could be a threat. And I think that works to our advantage.”
The Blue Waves play their first non-league game against Copiague this afternoon.
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