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Sports

Fontbonne Academy Lacrosse Kicks off Inaugural Varsity Season

After a promising season as a club sport last year, the Fontbonne Academy lacrosse team will endure its first full season as a varsity sport.

For the first time in the history of , they will be a varsity lacrosse program.

After a year as a club sport, the Ducks lacrosse program kicked off its inaugural varsity game when they faced North Quincy on Monday afternoon.

In last season’s campaign, the Ducks managed to record a 6-6 mark as club status, but coach Maria Elena Devine is well aware of the challenges the program faces as it makes its leap to varsity status.

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“The girls are working very hard to learn the game, and they have a lot of athletic ability,’’ said Devine. “Some of the girls are on the hockey team, a program that’s made it to the Division 2 State Title game for three years in a row, and hopefully some of that success will transfer on to the lacrosse field.

Leading the way for the Ducks are tri-captains Skye Ellement and McKenzie Irvin, both seniors followed by Natalie Devine, a junior. Ellement is slated to be rotated between midfield and attack while Irvin is expected to help man the defense in the back. Devine, a budding star on the ice, is also expected to lead in both midfield and attack.

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“We’ll be looking forward to our captains for both leadership, and also to pave the way for the program,’’ said Devine. “They’ve been doing a great job working with the younger girls, and the practices have gone great. I’m very excited about the upcoming season and it’ll be a challenge.”

Other seniors in the mix for the Ducks are defender Michelle Barrett as well as midfielders Liz Lawrie and Paige Frabetti. For attackers, senior Alex Siebert is expected to lead a youthful scoring group while Katie O’Sullivan will handle the goalkeeping duties.

Along with Devine, other juniors that should deliver an impact for the Ducks will be defender Maggie Leary and attacker Tori White.

“Some of these girls have never played the game before, so it’s definitely a learning experience for them,’’ said Devine. “They great thing is that they have a lot of natural instincts for the sport, and they’re well conditioned, having played in other sports.”

For sophomores, the Ducks will be led by the group of Kelly Downey, Erin Ferrara, McKenna Russell and Erin Healy.

Downie is slated to be inserted into the attacker position while Ferarra will be rotated between attack and midfield. Russell, another hockey standout and Healy are both tentatively slotted as defenders.

As for freshmen, the Ducks boast young and promising talent including Maddie Devine, Maddy McCarthy along with Jackie Karol, Morgan McKenna, Katie Porter, Shea Reardon and Milton native Mary Shea.

Devine is slated to be used as an attacker and a midfielder while Karol and McCarthy are both slotted in the attack position. McKenna could be another versatile athlete that could be rotated as an attacker and a midfielder followed by Porter on defense. Reardon, a goalkeeper that has shown promise during the pre-season season may share duties with O’Sullivan followed by Shea on attack.

“The girls are doing a great job, and are picking up the sport quickly,’’ said Coach Devine. “They have a great attitude and I’m looking forward to the season.”

The Ducks will travel to face Weymouth on Thursday.

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