DelcoTimes - News - 06/15/2006 - All-Delco Girls Lacrosse: Brophy sparked another title run at Carroll

06/15/2006

All-Delco Girls Lacrosse: Brophy sparked another title run at Carroll

Harry Chaykun , Of the Times Staff


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RADNOR -- In August, Mary Beth Brophy will take part in the tryouts for the United States Under-19 girls lacrosse team that will compete in the world championship tournament in Canada next summer.
"I remember the first time I tried out for a tournament team, the Philly Quik Stix," said Brophy, who just completed her junior year at Archbishop Carroll High. "I told my mother the tournament was in York and that she could go and room with my friend’s mom.

"Turns out the tournament was in Troy, New York, not in York and my friend didn’t make the team so she and her mother weren’t going. My mom wasn’t very happy when she found all that out."

Things have progressed more smoothly for Brophy as she has grown as a lacrosse player. This spring, she helped Carroll to a 21-1-1 record and its sixth consecutive undefeated season against Catholic League competition.

Her play was all the more remarkable when considering the fact that she could not compete as a sophomore after undergoing knee surgery twice.

For her outstanding skills as a lacrosse player and her contributions to another championship season at Archbishop Carroll, Brophy has been named 2006 Daily Times Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year.

Joining Brophy on the 2006 All-Delco team are teammates Cara Filippelli and Jackie DePetris, Sarah Geary, Jackie Eastman and Julianna Jeffers of Class AA district champion Springfield, Radnor’s Mary Cryan and Kelly Barnes, Jill Davis and Megan Udovich of Ridley, Kate Beers of Agnes Irwin and Strath Haven’s Alyssa Kovach.

The All-Delco team was selected by the Daily Times after consultation with county coaches.

DePetris, Geary, Eastman and Cryan also were members of the 2005 All-Delco team. Brophy, Filippelli, Geary, Eastman, Jeffers and Kovach also were juniors during the 2006 season and Barnes was a sophomore.

Brophy scored 53 goals and had 16 assists in Carroll’s 23 games. The Pats’ only loss was to Conestoga, which was Class AAA district champion. Carroll played an 11-11 tie with Class AA district champ Springfield and beat Radnor, a Class AAA district semifinalist, for the first time in the seven seasons the teams have met.

When the Patriots opened the season March 16 against Archbishop Prendergast, Brophy played in a game for the first time since the Catholic League final her freshman year.

She tore a ligament in her right knee playing basketball two days before Christmas 2004. Seven weeks after having surgery, she slipped on a patch of ice in a parking lot, cracked her right kneecap and had surgery again.

"In the fall, when I was still having pain in my knee I didn’t know what was going to happen," Brophy said. "When I started playing, everything was OK."

Carroll coach Lorraine Beers began the season without two sophomores who started the 2005 playoff final -- Brophy’s sister Annie and Gabby Capuzzi, who both suffered knee injuries playing soccer last fall and were recovering from surgery. Beers was happy to have Mary Beth Brophy back in her lineup.

"She ran our offense," Beers said. "She’s a tireless worker at midfield who is smart and challenges to goal at every opportunity. She’s a strong defender with excellent footwork and fast slides.

"She’s a groundball machine. She’s able to see the whole field both offensively and defensively."

Brophy competed in track at St. Monica School in Berwyn, where her father, Thomas Brophy, was the coach.

"I started lacrosse in fifth grade with the Pioneer Quix Stix in Valley Forge," Brophy said. "Since I was a runner, I liked it because at that age we just picked the ball up, ran down the field with it and scored goals.

"My parents got me a lacrosse stick for Christmas when I was in fourth grade and I couldn’t wait to use it."

When she did get to use that stick, some things went wrong.

"The first game I threw a pass and hit (Charlotte Wood, who plays at Conestoga High) right in the eye," Brophy said. "She wound up with a pretty nice shiner."

Brophy’s sister Tricia played at Carroll and was a member of the 2000 Patriots team which lost to St. Hubert in the Catholic League final in Beers’ first season as head coach. Carroll hasn’t lost to a Catholic League opponent since that game.

Jess Brophy, who played in the NCAA Division I Tournament for James Madison University as a freshman this spring, is two years older than Mary Beth.

"I had already started playing before Jess did," Mary Beth said. "I played field hockey (at St. Monica) and travel soccer through eighth grade, and in eighth grade I started playing for Phantastix in summer (lacrosse) tournaments."

In May, she was a member of the Upper Atlantic I team that was runnerup in the National Schoolgirls Tournament, which was played at Lehigh University. Filippelli, Barnes and Kovach were among her teammates.

Brophy scored four goals and had two assists in Carroll’s 19-4 win over Archbishop Wood as the Patriots claimed the Catholic League playoff title for the sixth consecutive year.

"That’s Coach Beers," Brophy said. "She makes sure we get there every year. She’s just an exceptional coach and she takes her players and makes them better. She has us play teams like Conestoga, Radnor, Springfield and (Class AA runnerup) Unionville because she knows we need to play tougher competition.

"We just didn’t show up against Conestoga and it showed in how badly we lost that game (11-3). We let Springfield come back on us and tie that game (11-11). But we beat Radnor and Unionville. The Radnor game (8-7) was so exciting."

The Patriots lost to Conestoga in the Katie Samson Lacrosse Festival Saturday April 29.

"I was going to Georgetown that weekend," Brophy said. "My boyfriend’s sister (Patty Piotrowicz, who played at Plymouth- Whitemarsh High) plays there.

"We had played so badly against Conestoga that Coach Beers called a practice for 1 o’clock Sunday afternoon, so I ended up on the train early Sunday morning to get back from Georgetown in time for practice."

The Carroll players got their coach’s message and finished the season with a nine-game unbeaten streak. Now Brophy is concentrating on refining her skills as she tries to become one of the 30 players who will be chosen for the Under-19 team’s roster. If she is selected, she will spend the winter training before the final cutdown to 24 players is made next spring.

Brophy has the lacrosse credentials to match many of the others who will be at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County for the tryouts next month. She also has the academic credentials to impress college coaches.

She ranks among the top 30 students academically in Carroll’s Class of 2007 and carries a 4.0 grade point average. She recently was elected president of the school’s Executive Board (student council) and Filippelli was elected vice president.

"I have to meet with the assistant principal every week," Brophy said. "I’ll be in charge of the activities at the school next year."

Georgetown and Yale are among the schools she is considering. College coaches can begin calling recruits July 1.

"I’ll be away July 1-3 at Georgetown’s camp," Brophy said. "I guess someone will have to take a message if a coach calls me."

She should have received plenty of messages by the time she gets home from camp.

Eastman, Geary, Jeffers led way for Springfield

In addition to Player of the Year Mary Beth Brophy of Archbishop Carroll, the 2006 Daily Times All-Delco Girls Lacrosse team includes:

Kelly Barnes, Radnor: A sophomore midfielder, she scored 35 goals as she helped the Red Raiders advance to the Class AAA district semifinal round. "She's the workhorse of the team," said Radnor coach Phyllis Kilgour. "She plays hard for all 50 minutes. She led the team in caused turnovers." She was a member of the Upper Atlantic I team that finished second in the National Schoolgirls Tournament.

Kate Beers, Agnes Irwin: A senior attack player, she scored 27 goals and had 16 assists. In the Inter-Ac tourney final at Episcopal Academy, she scored once and set up four goals as the Owls rallied from a 6-0 deficit for a 9-8 victory.

She got four goals in Irwin's victory over Strath Haven, which was a Class AA district semifinalist. She also played varsity basketball for four years. She will attend Harvard University. Her mother, Lorraine, has coached Archbishop Carroll to six consecutive Catholic League playoff titles.

Mary Cryan, Radnor: A senior midfielder, she scored 49 goals for the Red Raiders. "She was our top scorer and led the team in assists," Kilgour said. "She has great field vision." She also earned All-Delco honors in soccer and was Radnor's outstanding senior female athlete. She will attend Rutgers University on a lacrosse scholarship.

Jill Davis, Ridley: A senior attack player, she scored 65 goals to help the Green Raiders advance to the second round of the Class AAA district tournament. She played this season despite a painful ankle injury. She scored six goals in Ridley's playoff victory over Abington and finished her scholastic career with more than 200 goals. She ranked second academically in Ridley's Class of 2006. She will attend La Salle University.

Jackie DePetris, Archbishop Carroll: A senior attack player, she scored 51 goals, including three in the Patriots' Catholic League championship game victory. "She is very competitive and has great stickwork," said Carroll head coach Lorraine Beers. She earned All-Delco honors in both field hockey and lacrosse as a junior and senior. She will attend Syracuse University, where her sister Jill plays lacrosse, on a lacrosse scholarship.

Jackie Eastman, Springfield: A junior center who also made the 2005 All-Delco team, she scored 50 goals and led the Cougars, who won the Class AA district title for the second time in three years, in groundball pickups and draw controls. She was named outstanding attack player in the district championship game. "She has outstanding speed and quickness," said Springfield head coach Keith Broome. "She plays end to end the entire game."

Cara Filippelli, Archbishop Carroll: A junior attack player and midfielder, she led the Patriots with 67 goals, including four in the playoff semifinal win over St. Hubert and four in the title game victory over Archbishop Wood. "She's very fast and has a rocket of a shot," Coach Beers said. "She also has good defensive skills." She helped Carroll win the 2005 Catholic League field hockey title.

Sarah Geary, Springfield: A junior goalie, she earned All-Delco honors for the second consecutive year. She has a 65 percent save accuracy and is outstanding at clearing the ball. "She's the best goalie at Springfield in my 10 years (as head coach)," Broome said. "Her best games are always in our biggest games - Conestoga, Ridley, Carroll, Strath Haven and Radnor." Geary limited opponents to 11 goals in the Cougars' four playoff games.

Julianna Jeffers, Springfield: A junior attack player, she led the Cougars with 78 goals, including 15 in four playoff games. "She has an outstanding shot and acceleration to goal," Broome said. "She commands the ball in key situations." She scored the goal with two seconds to play that gave Springfield a tie with Archbishop Carroll. She had two of her team's eight goals in the Class AA district final.

Alyssa Kovach, Strath Haven: A junior attack player, she was the leading goal scorer in the county with 90. She also led the Panthers in assists (52) as Haven advanced to the semifinal round of the Class AA district tournament. She had an eight-goal game, a seven-goal game and four six-goal games and got five goals in a playoff win over Harriton.

She was a teammate of Brophy, Barnes and Filippelli on the Upper Atlantic I team.

Megan Udovich, Ridley: A senior attack player, she led the Green Raiders with 71 goals, including six in a Class AAA district playoff victory over Abington. She had one seven-goal game and three-six goal games. She is the sixth member of the Udovich family - and the first female - to earn All-Delco honors, including her father Mark, who was an All-Delco football player at Ridley. She will attend George Mason University on a lacrosse scholarship.