Last-Minute Score Delivers Big Senior Night Win For Monomoy Girls Lacrosse

HARWICH – The Monomoy girls lacrosse team took an emotional, down-to-the wire win against Dennis-Yarmouth on senior night Monday to conclude their regular season slate.

The group had to wait a long time for the feeling evoked by the 14-13 victory. The Sharks (2-16) had last won in March. But wins and losses aren’t everything, and Monomoy had sensed for weeks that they’d hit a turning point and were finally playing up to their standard. With that, the result against the Dolphins felt earned.

“To be able to finish that way, to finish with the clears that we were making tonight, with the offense that we had, the production that we were having, just all the things that weren't there in the beginning of the season that we worked so hard to produce, I definitely think [the win was] deserved, because they worked so hard to get to this point, and we definitely weren't here at the beginning of the year,” head coach Brendan Pursel said.

For the seniors recognized pre-game Monday, this spring has been their most unique season yet. The five-strong group — many of them four-year varsity players — had experienced three consecutive years of winning more games than they lost and landing somewhere in the middle of the Division 4 state tournament bracket (winning playoff games in two of those three runs). That hasn’t been the case this year, though the Sharks’ difficult strength of schedule still has them comfortably in the tournament field.

After a string of bigger senior classes, this class — Abrielle Long, Tessa Grodzicki, Natalie Sims, Megan Gabri, Lauren Gabri — in fact felt like the group left over, the ones left behind after all the friends they had played with for so long graduated, according to Pursel. They could have come into the season resigned, complacent with however the team turned out. Instead, they worked extra hard.

“They took it upon themselves to really be those leaders and step it up and build the next steps of the program and leave a legacy,” Pursel said.

Against Dennis-Yarmouth, Long scored seven times, while Grodzicki followed with five goals. Junior Charlie Ducott added two, including the go-ahead score with less than a minute remaining.

Long and Grodzicki have been Monomoy’s leading scorers all season. Grodzicki hit the 100-goal career milestone in early April, and Long is nearing the 200-point career mark with at least one tournament game left. Their performances Monday were electric-charged capstones to their time in the navy blue, silver and white. Long, Pursel said senior night, came with consistency, effort and dedication. Grodzicki came with fire and energy.

“The two of them together have worked really well as a team, and it's great,” Pursel said. “They've just been like two flames next to each other.”

Eighth grader Jules Gendron made 15 saves against the Dolphins. Gendron, 13, has only been playing the goaltender position since April. At the start of the season, the team needed goalies and asked players to try. Gendron took the call and later stepped up when some players were away during spring vacation.

“You just see how much she's improved, and she's young so she has a lot to learn, but I told her today we're just unlocking more and more talent every day,” Pursel said.

The Sharks may have two wins, but they’ll be qualifying for the state tournament with room to spare. Monomoy has played the fifth-hardest schedule in Division 4, according to the MIAA’s opposition rating metric. That figure within Monomoy’s resume has put them at 24th in the pool.

With the two wins bookending the regular season, the opposition rating number was reassuring confirmation that the Sharks were measuring up against advanced competition this spring. In which case the results may not have been there on paper, but the process was never in doubt. Grodzicki had been out due to injury mid-season but returned, bringing back power, and the team became positive, Pursel said. A 20-18 loss to St. John Paul II at the end of April was cited as a specific turnaround.  

“The way we played and the fun we had was palpable, and I think that really set the tone for the rest of the season,” Pursel said.