When Steinert High School senior lacrosse attacker Paige Meszaros sets goals for herself, she sees them through.
HAMILTON -- When Steinert High School senior lacrosse attacker Paige Meszaros sets goals for herself, she sees them through.
Back in 2015, Meszaros, a former Athlete of the Week who led her team with 48 goals last year, couldn't quite get her struggling Spartans to put it all together on the field, as they finished the season with a disappointing 4-12 record.
Meszaros believed that if her team was going to turn things around in her senior season, it would have to start with her.
"I'm hoping to be one of the girls everyone can look up to as a senior," Meszaros said last year as a junior. "I just want to be able to help everyone out so we can play better as a team next year. We had a hard time winning this year, but our record didn't really reflect us. We know what we can do."
Fast-forward to 2016, and Meszaros is delivering on her goals by delivering plenty of goals.
On April 12, she led her Spartans to a dominant 11-6 victory over Lawrence (Steinert's first win over Lawrence since April 10, 2014), scoring seven of her team's goals.
"It's just fun dishing the ball off to Paige because she's such a great scorer," teammate Riley Smith, who recorded three assists, told NJ Advance Media after the win.
"And, she's a senior and she deserves it. It's so different from last year. We didn't play enough as a team, instead we kind of played as individuals," Smith said. "But this year you can definitely tell and see the difference because we're working really well together. Everyone's doing an amazing job and everybody's all-in, working hard, and it's paying off for us.
"It was an amazing feeling to finally beat Lawrence," Smith continued. "Whenever we play them we always know it's going to be a tough game, but today we came out and we definitely earned the win. And being 4-1 is just crazy. Yesterday we went to double overtime to beat Gloucester Catholic and it was awesome, it's a cool feeling; it's something we didn't have last year."
Steinert coach Lorraine Heisler also sang Meszaros' praises after the victory over Lawrence.
"Paige is just like a machine for us, that's a good way to describe her," said Heisler, whose team has already notched more wins in 2016 than they did in all of 2015, thanks in large part to Meszaros. "It seemed like Riley got Paige the ball in good position and Paige did what she does best, she went in and scored."
Due to Meszaros' strong play and veteran leadership, the Spartans have clearly turned things around this year; the talented senior delivered on her promise.
"We really want more wins - just more wins," Meszaros said last year.
Mission accomplished.
Rich Cuccagna may be reached at rcuccagna@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichCuccagna. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.