Niamh Lesnik sees her team’s potential to make some noise in the MIAA Division I Tournament. Belmont High School girls lacrosse boasts a high-powered offense, improved defense, and an experienced goalie.
But a question looms: can they put it all together?
“We all just have to connect,” Lesnik said. “If we want to be super successful and get to the point that we’re looking for, all things have to be clicking at one time. Sometimes we can have an aspect that slows us down.”
The Marauders (13-5) earned the No. 14 seed in the tournament, announced by the MIAA during a day of bracket releases across sports. They will host No. 19 Waltham (11-7) in the Round of 32 at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 at Harris Field.
The boys (10-8) qualified for the tournament and seek their first Round of 32 victory, but their tournament bracket will be released the same day the girls play.
Postseason participants in each of the last four seasons, the girls are hosting a Round of 32 contest for the third straight year. They’ve yet to advance past the Round of 16 since the MIAA instituted the statewide tournament format in 2021. Last year, they won their Round of 32 home game before falling to third-seeded Lincoln-Sudbury in the Round of 16.
The Marauders closed the regular season on a five-game win streak, capped by a 13-12 thriller at Central Catholic in the regular season finale.
Lesnik, who will play at Fairfield University, leads Belmont with 82 goals and 10 assists. Classmates Sydney Mun (38 goals, 16 assists) and Nora Goulding (13 goals, 34 assists) help form a powerful goal-scoring machine. Juniors Maddie Tisdale (15 goals, 8 assists), Natalie Merrow (25 goals, 9 assists) and Ruth Siegert (20 goals, 8 assists) also pack a scoring punch. Freshman Ellie Siegert (16 goals, 16 assists) is a rising young star.
Coach Dan O’Brien expects the Marauders to start quickly.
“Ultimately, you want to win the first draw,” O’Brien said. “You want to get a good offensive possession and hopefully put one in the back of the net early so you can get the butterflies out of the way and be playing in front. You don’t want to go down early and have to chase the game.”
While they’ve played and beaten Waltham in the prior three years, this year’s Hawks team has improved since prior matchups. Belmont will go nearly two weeks between games. The team devoted some practices to specific focuses, such as player-up offense, player-down defense, and situational awareness.
For Lesnik and the seniors, the Round of 32 will be their last game at Harris Field in any sport. She wants to win it and follow with some upsets of higher-seeded teams.
“I’ve never, ever been past the second round in the postseason with any team, so that would definitely be an amazing accomplishment going out,” Lesnik said. “The goal is to definitely get further than we ever have.”
