Nine high school seniors signed national letters of intent to play for the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team on Friday. After having the No. 1 ranked class in the nation in 2010, the Hoyas will welcome another strong class in 2011.”It’s hard to say how highly ranked the class will be, as their senior year of play will have a lot to do with how they will be ranked,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “But four of them are already ranked in their position.”
The class of 2011 will be comprised of three attacks, three midfielders and three defenders.
“We try to go after the best players that we need, and this even distribution of positions more worked out that way than anything else,” Fried said. “But some of them are hybrid. We need to label them with how they fit into the system.”
The first to commit to the Hoyas was midfielder Caroline Seats, the No. 5 ranked midfielder in the nation in the 2011 class. Sitting right behind her is the No. 6 ranked midfielder in the country Mollie Caputo. Both Seats and Caputo have sisters that have already played for the program (current senior midfielder Catie Caputo is Mollie’s sister).
“We have probably had about eight to 10 pairs of sisters that have come through the program,” Fried said. “Families trust us in taking care of the program.”
High School All-American Adrianne Devine rounds out the trio of midfielders.
As far as the attacks are concerned, Fried feels that each player brings something different to the table. All-American and the No. 10 attack on the ESPN RISE list, Caroline Tarzian is a natural left-handed scorer. New Jersey all-county selection Samantha Giordano is the perfect complement to Tarzian, as she is a natural feeder and right-handed as well.
The final attack of the 2011 class is Lauren Schwalje, the No. 5 ranked attack in the nation. Fried believes that Schwalje is the most athletic recruit of the group, describing her as a “high intensity [attack].”
“The [attacks] have a big opportunity step in right away because we graduate four [attacks] this year,” Fried said.
The three defenders of the group are Megan Marinelli, Casey McGowan and Betsy Holland. Marinelli is the No. 12 in the nation, while McGowan is ranked 18th on the ESPN RISE list and was named an Under Armour All-American in 2010 as well.
“The defenders are a real athletic group,” Fried said. “They raise the athletic level and still maintain the intensity level.”
While many are eager to see how the current freshmen perform this year, the team is still excited about the 2011 class.
“Most of them were multi-sport athletes in high school, which is good quality for us,” Fried said. “We continue to build quality depth, where a number of players can step in and contribute on any given day.”
