By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/20/09
Archbishop Carroll rising senor attack Aimee Gennaro has committed to the Naval 
Academy for 2010-11.
Gennaro was a second-team All-Catholic League pick in 2009, and helped the Patriots claim their ninth straight Catholic League championship. She also played on the Philly1 team that claimed the championship in the Women’s Division at the US Lacrosse National tournament in May and on the Philly team that placed third in the Under Armour Underclassmen Games in June.
Gennaro, who had 42 goals this year, will play for legendary Navy coach Cindy Timchal. The Haverford High graduate has won 26 games in just two seasons after guiding Maryland to eight national championships. This year Timchal brings in two from Philly – twins Kathy and Beth Young of Villa Maria Academy.
“I met with them couple times and asked them a ton of questions,” said Gennaro of the twins. “They were really unbiased.”
Gennaro, who plans to pursue engineering, said her grandfather was in the Navy and that she has always considered a military education.
“It is something I have always been drawn to,” she said. “The whole structure is totally unique, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I didn’t want to pass it up. Everything is based on discipline and teamwork; it sounds dumb but it’s the coolest thing to me.”
The presence of Timchal was another draw.
“She (Timchal) is awesome,” said Gennaro. “She’s the first name in lacrosse I ever heard.”
Gennaro said the 2009 scholastic season was gratifying for many reasons. The Patriots started slowly, but emerged in the middle of the season and peaked at the end, handling Archbishop Wood, 16-8, for the Catholic League crown. They also won a state game over Bayard Rustin before bowing to eventual champion Radnor in the quarterfinals.
“We struggled as a team early, but we turned it around,” said Gennaro. “We got to move on to states and no Carroll team had done that. It was an awesome experience to share with my teammates. We’re really looking forward to next year
“Now that we have experience under our belts, especially from the state tournament, we know what to expect and we hope to move on further.”
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