The Bishop Guertin High School girls lacrosse team is coming off the most successful season in program history.
The Cardinals complied a record of 15-3 and advanced to the championship game in Division II, where they lost to Bow.
With nine returning starters, and another four players who were on varsity last season, BG should be right back in the mix of contenders.
“People keep telling me I have a great team this year, I won’t know until June,” BG coach Ron Cote said. “We had a great season last year. I am telling this year’s team that, any team can have one good season, not many keep it going. Which category will we fall in?”
Of the returning starters, two are on defense – junior Mollie McGaffigan and senior Cori Nawn – along with senior goaltender Christiana Carlini, who was also the goalie for the field hockey and girls ice hockey teams.
Juniors Jennica McInnis and Tesia Whittier also return on defense, but the rest of the group could be filled with all freshmen.
Also returning for the Cardinals are seniors Rosie Buchanan (attack), Kristianna Purington (center), Michelle Kalil (attack), Julia Wright (middie) and Meghan Maguire (middie), along with sophomore middie Tiffany Stanton. Returning non-starters include seniors Erin Heckley (attack) and junior Caroline Westberg (attack).
The Cardinals should be battling with Bow, Hanover, Winnacunnet and Portsmouth to be one of the top teams in the division this season.
BG starts its season on April 12 at Bishop Brady.