By Molly Tow
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/8/11
Villa Maria Academy rising senior defender Maddie McTigue has made a verbal commitment to play Division I lacrosse at Temple University.
Villa Maria (16-5) lost in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies finals this year to arch rival Merion Mercy, and advanced to the second round of the District 1 playoffs where it was defeated by eventual state champion Garnet Valley.
McTigue plays club lacrosse for PA Express. Along with lacrosse, McTigue has earned varsity letters in both soccer and basketball at Villa Maria. She also received Second Honors in academics.
Villa Maria coach Jess Chadwin is a Temple graduate and played under current Temple coach Bonnie Rosen (Harriton).
“This is special for [coach Chadwin] too because she just became the head coach for Villa Maria last year, and I’m her first one going to Temple,” said McTigue.
“I love the campus, I love the coaches, and when I visited, I knew that wanted to go there. It was just a perfect fit.”
McTigue is the second Villa Maria rising senior to commit to play Division I lacrosse. Midfielder Jenna Mertz has committed to James Madison. McTigue joins North Penn’s Brenda McDermott (midfielder) and Bishop Shanahan’s Summer Jaros (midfielder) as Temple recruits from philly.
Chadwin labeled the 2011 season a success under first-year coach Chadwin.
“We had a brand new coach and we didn’t know what to expect,” McTigue said. “We actually did pretty well. We won the league (regular season), we lost in the league championship, but we still won regular season.
“We lost in the second round of Districts, but we lost to the team that won state championships, so it wasn’t that bad. Overall, we had a pretty good season.”
