After a devastating loss to a tough Yorktown team in the 2023 section championship, the Quakers girls lacrosse team was not looking to back down in their 2024 campaign. However a season this successful may not have been expected.
“We were all very upset,” says Rowan Edson, a junior midfielder for the Quakers. “But we had the mindset that we wanted revenge and we wanted to come back and be in the finals again.” Despite this mentality, the Quakers still experienced some early season woes in their 2024 journey. After losing to Yorktown (the team who beat them in the 2023 championship) in the first game of the season, things were looking grim for the Quakers.
“Playing Yorktown as our first game, then Bronxville next was two tough opponents as our first two games,” says Edson. “We lost both of them and we got down on ourselves and I think that’s what gave us a slow start.” The junior also added that the Quakers’ late start to the year contributed to unfortunate outcomes early on. While other teams who the girls were playing at the beginning of the season had already played 3-4 games, the Quakers hadn’t played any, or one to two at most.
But with a win away from home against a talented Greenwich squad towards the middle of the season, the Quakers started turning things around. “The energy was amazing,” says Edson, “and from then on we never really lost that energy.” That constant energy input was massive for the rest of the season, Edson says, propelling the girls to the successful campaign they had.
When the playoffs arrived, the Quakers didn’t necessarily have the lightest path. They made easy work of Carmel in the Class B quarterfinals before moving on to the semis to play Fox Lane, a rivalry game that is always competitive. The Quakers prevailed in the end, moving on to their long-awaited destiny of playing Yorktown in another section championship.
In a game where the lead changed constantly and the emotion of the players was palpable, the Horace Greeley Quakers were able to pull through and crown themselves the 2024 Section 1 Girls Lacrosse Champions for the first time in school history. The mindset of revenge appeared to have paid off, as the Quakers finally got their vengeance on the Huskers a year later.
Edson led the scoring with 5 goals (the University of Colorado Boulder commit finished the year with a whopping 66 for the season). Senior Bae Bounds, a Brown commit, finished the game with three goals as well. Her leadership was crucial for the girls this season. Sophomore Grace Richards, a young and bright spot for the Quakers this year, scored the game-winner in the intense match. An incredible feat for an underclassman. Goalie and Skidmore commit Tatum Walsh came up big with 7 saves in the final.
The Quaker frenzy did not stop there, however. The girls rode high on their Section 1 success by advancing far in the NY State tournament. They journeyed to the semi-finals, losing to West Genesee, a team flooded with Division 1 commits. Still, making it that far is more than an amazing accomplishment for the team.
When asked about one word to describe her mindset heading into Edson’s final season of Greeley Lacrosse, she said: “Determined.”
Determined to repeat as section champions, determined to win the state championship, determined to beat her insane 84 points (goals plus assists) scored in 2024? Who knows. What is known, however, is that Greeley Girls Lacrosse is in great hands for the 2025 season, a year that will hopefully be similar to the historic one we all just witnessed.
