Nottingham High School freshman lacrosse midfielder Michaela Donnelly has a bright future ahead of her, evidenced by the fact that she did something on May 2 that no other female lacrosse player in her school's history had been able to do before her – lead the Northstars to a win.
HAMILTON -- Nottingham High School freshman lacrosse midfielder Michaela Donnelly has a bright future ahead of her, evidenced by the fact that she did something on May 2 that no other female lacrosse player in her school's history had been able to do before her - lead the Northstars to a win.
After going 0-76 over their first five and a half seasons following the team's creation in 2011, Nottingham finally won a game, narrowly defeating Burlington City 10-8 thanks to a team-high six goals from Donnelly.
Two of those scores came late in the contest to break up an 8-8 tie, propelling the Northstars to victory.
"It feels great," Donnelly told NJ Advance Media after the win. "This really is great for the seniors. They've waited a long time for this. This was a great team win. It wasn't just me because a bunch of other people scored and that was great. We're starting to get more people involved in the offense. When they had that two-goal lead late we just knew we had to be aggressive and go to the goal."
And once we got the lead it was my job to defend No. 8 (Alexandria Sams). She was a very talented player. From that point it was all about us getting possessions," Donnelly said.
Nottingham coach Christie Fink began to cry as the game came to an end, ecstatic over her team's first win. The first-year coach was extremely proud of all of her players, especially Donnelly.
"Oh my God, it's just the best feeling in the world," said Fink. "I'm just so happy for them. I'm happy for the program and the school. I can't wait until they go to school tomorrow and tell everyone they got a win. The baseball team was watching and the girls really needed this for them and for the program. It's a great feeling. I just can't tell you how happy I am for my players. We had some girls step up and Michaela's a godsend."
Rich Cuccagna may be reached at rcuccagna@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichCuccagna. Find NJ.com on Facebook.