BE girls all-stars shine on national lacrosse stage

Some coaches will use the mantra “the cupboard is bare” to describe their situation after a memorable season that includes heavy personnel losses due to graduation.

 

But when it comes to Bishop England High School girls’ lacrosse, it’s a different story. That cupboard is more like a cornucopia that is always bountiful with talented players.

 

The Bishops completed another perfect season, which culminated in May with its sixth consecutive state championship. The Bishops blasted Oceanside Collegiate Academy, 21-3, to put an exclamation point on a season that included an undefeated 18-0 record that pushed the Bishops’ winning streak to 82 games. Coach Jeff Weiner said the 2022 BE team was the best ever in the school’s history.

 

The Bishops bid farewell to four seniors who were in the starting lineup. But this program oozes talent. Five BE players were on a South Carolina all-star team that recently won its division of the USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament. The event featured more than 800 of the top high school girls’ lacrosse players in the country.

 

The BE players who competed for the Sandlappers included Bo Rosato, Henley Bredemann, Evelyn Kitchin, Lizzie Tomkins and Nini Clark.

 

There were 22 players on the South Carolina squad that won its division for the second straight year. The tourney was held in Bel Air, Maryland, on May 28-29 and offered players from across the country a chance to perform in front of college coaches and recruiters.

 

The South Carolina team, made up of players who compete in SCISA and the High School League, went 4-0 in the tournament to claim a championship for the second year in a row. The Sandlappers opened play with a 10-9 victory over Texas and then topped the DC

Metro team 14-8. They reached the championship by defeating a team from western New York by a 13-3 margin. In the championship, the Sandlappers topped a team from Ohio by a 12-4 margin.

 

Weiner, a Long Island native, moved to the Lowcountry more than a decade ago. He had experience in what is one of the hotbeds of lacrosse. He started coaching at BE and took part in camps to help spread the sport’s popularity in the Lowcountry. While South Carolina will never be confused with the ultimate hotbed of lacrosse in Maryland, the talent pool has improved.

 

“The state of lacrosse in South Carolina, especially in the Lowcountry, has improved tremendously in the last few years,” said Weiner, who turned 73 on June 14. “It will continue to get better.”

 

Four other players from the Lowcountry competed in the all-star tournament, including two players from Wando and two from Oceanside Collegiate Academy.

 

Bishop England will begin the season as the favorite to win the state title in 2023. But Weiner said it will be more difficult to have an undefeated season because the schedule will be upgraded with out-of-state teams.

 

“It will be a challenge,” Weiner said. “We will work hard and be ready.”