Every other week this spring season, Jessica Dahldorf will take us inside the Poly Prep girls lacrosse team. In her exclusive diary on NYPost.com, the Northwestern-bound midfielder will give us an inside look at the Blue Devils quest to return to the NYSAISAA title game and bring home a championship.
This is an exciting time for Poly Prep seniors.
With just finishing classes last Friday, we are really narrowing in on our final three weeks. These next three weeks will mark the end of our high school years’ memories, and will linger with us as we begin to set off on our next journeys. As athletes at Poly Prep, this is our last time to play together and shine. I am sad to think that each game brings us closer to the last time the seniors step out on the lacrosse field representing Poly Prep together.
There are five seniors on our lacrosse team that will soon be preparing to go in different directions and to different colleges. I will look back over the years and enjoy the memories of all of us growing up together on this team. I will always remember the killer instinct that Sam Domurat brought to scoring, and the speed which our lefty, Rosie Silber-Marker, could catch and cut. Clara Miles has one of the most powerful shots I have ever seen, and Nina Beigelman has an amazing work ethic and energy every time she walks out on the field. In addition to the playing memories, I will also remember all of the laughs, inside stories and tears we shared together.
I will also cherish the memories of playing against the top talent in our league. Trish and Kelly Gorman from Pelham, N.Y., representing Hackley are great opponents. When I moved from Pelham to Brooklyn in sixth grade, I never thought I would have to face my fellow elementary school soccer friends on the lacrosse field as seniors.
Trish is an offensive threat with amazing stick skills and Kelly is a wall in the goal making it hard for any offensive player to get an easy shot. But not only stumbling on my childhood friends who turned out to be great players, I have also been lucky to play against top athletes Lindsay Picard and Isabella Bertagna representing Riverdale. The wins and losses we have together will be the games we remember the longest.
In the last stretch of the lacrosse season, we are not playing for ourselves, nor are the underclassmen playing for the seniors, we are playing for each other.
Last week we played Fieldston. At this game, we were charged with four yellow cards in the first half. This game was a challenge for our team, but we rallied together to win in overtime. On Wednesday we played a tough game against division leader Hackley. We started off in a deep hole (down 12-3 within the first 15 minutes).
Although we rallied back outscoring Hackley 8-1 in the remaining minutes, there was not enough time, and we lost the game 13-11. The efforts played in both games highlighted the commitment of the entire team and our belief in one another.
And now when I look back on all of the seasons we have played together, I feel so lucky to have found myself surrounded by so many talented athletes.
Check back with Jessica Dahldorf every other Thursday during the season. Her final diary will run May 24.