Columbia HS girls lacrosse team boasts strong returning core

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MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School girls lacrosse team reached the second round of the state tournament last season.

Columbia defeated Governor Livingston 16-9 in the season opener on Monday, April 3, at GL in Mountainside.

With a talented and experienced group, CHS head coach Steve Ramos said the goal this season is to get past that round.

The Cougars, who finished 9-7 overall last year, return most of their very young lineup from a year ago, led by three first-team All-Super Essex Conference players: captains Jamie Fardin, and Olivia Fitzsimmons, and senior goalie Julianne Henigan.

Fardin, a senior, led the team in nearly every category; while the dynamic Fitzsimmons, a junior, can play anywhere on the field, said Ramos.

The Cougars also return Henigan, one of the top goalies in the state. Henigan, who will play at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, will be supported by a strong defensive unit which yielded the fewest goals in the North Jersey Girls Interscholastic Lacrosse League–Independence Conference last year. Senior captains Riley Silverstein and Cornelia Hetherington will anchor the defense. Junior Molly Bigelow will balance out the defense. She posted 33 groundballs and 13 forced turnovers a year ago and will again serve as a lockdown specialist, drawing the opponents’ best offensive players, Ramos said.

Sophomores Evie Campbell and Margaret McManus have had great pre-season camps and will again be big contributors, while senior attackers Sophia Randazza and Katie O’Mara are poised for a big year, noted Ramos.

Seniors Juliet Shires and Kalina Taylor, and sophomores Julia Hartley and Elsa Kaldren round out the offense.

Adding depth to the defense will be seniors Della Zimmerman, Adrian Carter and Alexis Halm; juniors Paloma Duvergne and Alexis Halm; and sophomore Sophie Raskin.

The team also has promising freshmen: midfielders Anabel MacGuire and Maddie McKinstrie, defenders Annabell Nelson and Claire Wissel; attacker Samara Moskowitz and goalies Elle Guillaume and Tabby Barnes,who will both back up Henigan.

The Cougars unfortunately will be without junior Susanna Knutsen, one of their leading midfield weapons who is sidelined with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

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