By Molly Tow
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/1/11
Hatboro-Horsham rising senior midfielder-defender Caroline Hagan has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at St. Joseph’s University.
Hagan earned US Lacrosse Academic All-American honors and helped the Hatters (16-3) place second in the Suburban One Continental Conference with a 10-2 record in 2011. She was a First Team all-league pick the past two years and was voted Defensive MVP for Hatboro-Horsham.
Hagan, who plays club lacrosse for the Phantastix, is a member of the National Honors Society.
Hagan knew of St. Joseph’s from an early age, and so far it has met all of her expectations. She is currently planning to major in Accounting or Pre-Med.
“My mom went there and all of her brothers went there, so I’ve been around it since I was little,” Hagan said. “I’ve always thought the campus was very ‘college-y’.
“The coaches are really nice, and I haven’t met all of the girls on the team yet, but the ones I have met, I love. I’m excited that it’s Division I, I love to play, and it’s close by so my parents will be able to come down for games all of the time. It’s really just perfect.”
Other Hatboro-Horsham players that have committed to play college lacrosse are attack Nicole Beck (Cal-Berkeley) and midfielder Cortnee Daley (Louisville).
Hagan is the second rising senior from Philly to commit to St. Joseph’s; the other is Merion Mercy attack Bonnie McShane. Hagan knows McShane from playing club lacrosse with her for a year.
Hagan enjoyed the 2011 campaign under first-year coach Duncan Swezey, who led the Hatters to the second round of the District 1 tournament.
“This year, the new coach, Duncan Swezey, was a man that a lot of us knew through the community, and his daughters have played [lacrosse]. He was a great coach,” said Hagan. “This was the most fun year playing. Our team did really well and we had a really good record.”
The Hatters return most of their starters for 2012.
“We’re only losing three seniors, and there are a bunch of us that are committed [to play college lacrosse] or will be committed soon, so we should be good next year,” said Hagan.
“We definitely want to beat North Penn, because that was the only league game that we lost. The past two years we’ve lost in the second round of the playoffs, so we definitely want to make it past that as well.”
