By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/13/08
When Julie DiRemigio decided to return home to her roots of Philadelphia after 10 years coaching high school girls’ lacrosse in Virginia, she figured she had a slight rebuilding project at Episcopal Academy.
The Churchwomen had lost eight key seniors from a squad that won the Inter-Ac with an 11-1 record and went 14-3 overall. This year’s team had only three seniors returning, along with a large group of talented underclassmen.
“I knew coming in that we had lost a lot to graduation and I was thinking maybe it would be a building year,” said DiRemigio, the former Julie Clyma who graduated from Penncrest (class of 1984) and Dartmouth and spent the last 10 years coaching at Episcopal High in Alexandria. “But instead of them thinking, ‘We’re going to struggle,’ I guess they decided they needed to step it up.”
Episcopal has done exactly that. The Chuchwomen are 6-1 after splitting two games Saturday in a tournament in Virginia. Some of the early-season victories have been impressive; triumphs over Inter-Ac contenders Germantown Academy (20-13) and Notre Dame (15-11) and a 13-9 conquest of Tower Hill, the top-ranked team in Delaware according to the Wilmington News-Journal.
DiRemigio credited the team’s lone seniors, Alex Jahnle, Lindsey McManus and Alexa Narzikul for their leadership. Two freshmen, center Taylor Trimble and attacker Blake McHugh, have stood out all year. Others have taken turns on offense.
Against Notre Dame, Megan Spagnola scored six goals while Sammi Arbitman and Trimble added three apiece. Against Tower Hill, Trimble and McHugh pumped in three goals while Avery Curley and Kate Ivory each notched two.
In the GA win, Episcopal stormed back from an 8-5 first-half deficit and dominated in the second half. McHugh, Trimble and Curley each netted four goals.
“The girls were angry at themselves, we couldn’t catch and we couldn’t throw in the first half,” said DiRemigio. “We got our act together in the second half.”
Episcopal will host Agnes Irwin Tuesday in an Inter-Ac game and then face their biggest test Friday when it hosts undefeated and top-ranked Radnor.
“The girls just complement each other,” said DiRemigio. “It’s not me, it’s them.”
