Girls Lacrosse: Behind its new head coach, St. Edward's is storming into the postseason

VERO BEACH — Amid a downpour and windy conditions, the St. Edward’s girls lacrosse team rained down goals on Wednesday.

And as the regular season nears its conclusion, the Pirates are storming into the playoffs.

St. Edward’s made quick work of Melbourne, scoring the night’s first nine goals on the way to a 17-4 Senior Night rout at Michael J. Mersky Field.

The Pirates are on a seven-game winning streak and improved to 10-2, surpassing their win total from a year ago. They’ll wrap up the regular season at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Andrew’s.

Seniors did most of the scoring for the home team, as the trio of attackers Millicent Critchfield, M.K. Watson and midfielder Carrington Brown combined for 14 goals. Brown led the pack with six scores, while Watson and Critchfield had four apiece.

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Brown, a captain along with Watson, put Senior Night into perspective.

“Both M.K. and I have been playing lacrosse since sixth grade. So having our Senior Night was a big deal for us, we’ve been looking forward to it forever,” she said. “It was just really nice to be together and share this wonderful game.”

After St. Edward’s eighth-grade goalie Maddie Moscrip made a stop on the game’s opening shot, the hosts were off to the races, putting up a flurry of five goals over 3 minutes, 19 seconds. They led 8-0 at the end of the first quarter and bumped the cushion to 9-0 before the Bulldogs finally got on the board when Carys Steckler scored on a spinning shot from in close.

With just under three minutes remaining until halftime, Watson put in a goal to make it 12-2 and start a running clock for the rest of the night.

Moscrip finished the night with five saves.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday night.

‘I’ve been working at that for four years’

Watson reached a milestone during the early scoring barrage.

With her second goal of the game, the senior attacker reached 100 goals in her prep career. She was immediately rushed by teammates, who offered their congratulations. Seconds later, an announcement of the accomplishment was made over the loudspeakers as fans in the stand applauded.

“I’ve been working at that for four years, so I kind of knew it could potentially happen today,” Watson said. “The team was made aware and everybody was so supportive. They were like, ‘We want you to get that.’ It’s not just 100 goals for me but the assists from the other teammates and it’s everyone working together. So the fact that we can be so supportive of each other’s accomplishments is really great.”

Mental health a priority under Cappelen

Taking over for Molly McEnerney, who spent the previous three seasons as Pirates head coach, Cami Cappelen has hit all the right buttons in her first season at the helm. She stepped into the position with quite the pedigree.

Cappelen initially attended St. Edward’s before transferring to Vero Beach, where she led the Indians to three consecutive state championships and was a two-time U.S. Lacrosse All-American as a midfielder. She was one of the first players in the state to compete at the Division I level, enjoying a four-year career at John Hopkins.

With years of coaching experience at the club level, Cappelen doesn’t credit any special tactics or strategy for her success in her first season. Instead, she has emphasized various intangibles to strengthen her players and the team as a whole.

“I am a big proponent of the four pillars of health: nutrition, sleep, exercise and then it’s your mental health, your mindfulness. And especially in this day and age, mental health for the kids is so important for teenage girls,” Cappelen said. “I just wanted to make sure we hit on all four of those points to show them how strong they are, how good they can be, and when we come together as a team, they’re showing up for every single girl. I think that’s what makes us a good team.”

The Pirates’ veterans and youngsters have bought in from the outset, as the team is on pace for its best campaign since going 13-1 in 2018.

“I feel like she brings a really important perspective of staying strong on and off the field,” Watson said. “From the drills we do in practice, we work at a really high level in hopes of implementing that in our games and our play. … Working on our mental strength, that’s been really good for our team. You have those games where you get beat down, and the fact that we’re able to stay strong after games has been really helpful for us.”

‘Now is the time to step up’

St. Edward’s is ranked 11th in the state, just one spot behind Vero Beach. The squad has suffered only narrow losses to Benjamin, which is ranked fourth in the state, and Viera by a combined margin of four goals.

Currently positioned as the No. 2 seed in District 13-1A and fourth in Region 4-1A, the Pirates are shoo-in for the state playoffs.

“All of these games have been leading up to districts and hopefully regionals,” Brown said. “I really believe all the effort we’ve put forth, we’re deserving of the (success), so I hope we can continue going strong.”

However, any future games will be without one of their best players. Sophomore midfielder C.J. Fykes is out for the remainder of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.

In just less than two seasons, Fykes has more draw controls (126) than anyone from the Pirates program over the past 20 seasons. She also has surpassed 100 points and 100 ground balls in her brief career.

“Today, we talked about how this is what being a team is all about. We’re here for each other during the highs and the lows,” Cappelen said. “Now, more than ever, we’re going to come together and show our resiliency and strength as a unit.  We’re going to play every game for her. And for the girls that are ready and willing to step up, now is the time to step up.”

Cappelen notes the sophomore’s younger sisters will be two players to watch in her absence: eighth grader midfielders Grace Fykes and Margaret Fykes.

Patrick Bernadeau is a sports reporter for Treasure Coast Newspapers. He can be reached at (772) 985-9692, on X at @PatBernadeau or via email at pbernadeau@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Girls Lacrosse: A former VBHS legend has St. Edward's upping its level