A Decade of Dominance: Westwood High Girls’ Lacrosse and a Legacy of Success

The scoreboard was not working properly. It read 99-96 before the game even got started. As the first half wore on it began to feel as though at least one half of that score line was possible. The girls in white were winning every face-off and swarming the opposition goal. Their two All-Americans would combine for 12 goals and 7 assists. It was a rout.

It was also the cap on a decade of dominance by one of the most successful programs in any sport in the state. The 20-6 victory over Algonquin at Worcester’s Foley Field was the 6th state championship in 10 years for the Westwood High girl’s lacrosse team and 3rd in four years for the star-studded senior class.

Losing players of the caliber of Kate Rich, 5 goals and 2 assist in the finals, Laura McHoul, 7 goals and 5 assists, and goalie Mollie Brown, 7 saves, would seem to imply an upcoming dry spell, but Head Coach Leslie Frank has dealt with this before and has never missed a beat. One of the reasons for the team’s continued success is that when players graduate they don’t leave the program, but rather come back and attend practices, cheer their former teammates on from the sidelines, and give advice to the new squad members.

The program has talent, that is unquestioned, but the strength of history and the legacy of winning pushes the Wolverines to title after title.

“Every year a team leaves something behind and the new players pick it up,” said McHoul (who along with Rich was named an All-American in her senior season) following the team’s triumph in Worcester. “Each year you just want to carry the legacy of what each year has left behind. And just to carry this on and to set up the sophomore class to go four for four was great.”

This past season did not start in typical manner with Westwood losing their opening game of the season to Lincoln-Sudbury, one of the few teams to challenge their supremacy in Division 1. Later in the season, Westwood would fall to their South Sectional rivals from Needham, a team that Coach Frank would later call the best they had played that season. In the playoffs, both those losses would be avenged and the season that began with Westwood looking like they might finally be dethroned ended in a very familiar manner.

Laura McHoul, a senior captain and All-American,
searches for an opening against Needham.

Frank has become a legend in the lacrosse community with the program that she has built at Westwood High and her focus and modesty has translated to her players. Rising senior midfielder Marina Burke noted, “It all started from her and she is an amazing coach. It might be possible that someone could match her in the number of wins or something, but I don’t think anyone could ever match the positive impact she has had on a lacrosse program.”

Following her team’s title, the reporters in attendance asked Frank what it was about Westwood that made them consistently dominant. She answered, “It’s the mentoring. It’s the legacy. Those girls are here year after year coming back to support them. We love the game and we are going to help anyone that’s going to grow the game.”

One of those former players is Erica Nangeroni, a 2010 graduate who won two state titles in her four years on the varsity squad and is currently playing as a junior at Bowdoin College. Nangeroni admires the ease with which former players are welcomed into practices by the coaches and current players. Advice is not only welcomed - it is sought and, despite winning titles of their own, current players want to learn from those that have already gone through the pressure of being the best.

“In my experience with the Westwood program, all of the players are so determined to learn as much as they can and to always better their play; Westwood players take advantage of every opportunity to learn and get better and they were absolutely willing to listen and try new things to do so,” said Nangeroni by email.

The former players add perspective to the hard work that the girls put in everyday on the practice field. The championships are great and seem to happen every year, but after graduation it is easier to realize how important it is to enjoy the celebrations with teammates and to appreciate how short the time really was during those intense playoff moments.

Senior captain and All-American Kate Rich
 pumps her fists to celebrate a goal against
Needham in the Sectional finals.

Nangeroni commented, “Being such a consistently strong program, a lot of the players know what it’s like to participate in the high pressure games; what they don’t realize is how fleeting those moments are. I advised the girls to really have fun and enjoy each game and to cherish the time with their team on and off the field because they won’t realize how special this time is until after it’s gone.”

Chasing a championship each season adds a certain pressure but both Burke and Nangeroni insist that the legacy of Westwood’s success has not added stress. According to Burke, “I don’t think there is added pressure because every year is a new year and a new team and we try to look at it that way. There is definitely added desire and ambition to do the same as the years before, but not too much pressure.” Nangeroni agreed, “Though the past success of the program may appear to add pressure to the current team, I think that there is more of a sense of pride. Within the team, the past success of the program was something that we always use to boost us up, never to bring us down.”

The new season is still over six months away, but already Westwood are the heavy favorites to be lifting the trophy again at Foley Field. Already the teams at Needham High, Lincoln-Sudbury, and Algonquin are plotting their revenge and trying to find the strategy to end the Wolverines’ title tradition. The target squarely on their backs again, Westwood will take the field confident in their ability to rise to the challenge.

What has made Westwood capable of continually finding a way to surpass all opponents? Erica Nangeroni believes that she can provide the answer:

“Ultimately, it has been the combination of incredible physical and mental effort, a lot of talent, and incredible groups of girls with chemistry on and off the field and a coach who has the ability to better her players as people that has led to the success of the Westwood program.”

The Westwood Wolverines clinched their 6th state championship in 10 years at Foley Field in Worcester.