Girls Lacrosse: How Martin County stamped a turnaround season with a district title

It’s taken four years for Kelloryn Kalwa to revitalize the Martin County girls lacrosse team.

The climb has been far from smooth, as the Tigers endured losing campaigns in each of the prior three years. But with Kalwa at the helm, steady improvement has resulted in a turnaround season, punctuated by the program’s first district title since 2015.

Martin County accomplished the feat by outlasting Jupiter 16-14 during the District 13-2A championship match on Wednesday at Martin County High School.

“We’ve just focused on the fundamentals, building a program that’s encouraging and positive and creating a culture that produces this kind of athletic excellence. It’s very satisfying to be here right now,” said Kalwa, who has been the Tigers’ head coach since taking over in the middle of a 1-11 season in 2021. “It’s been a lot of hours and time away from family, but these girls have worked so hard, especially these seniors that have seen the hole we’ve climbed out of.”

With the score tied 14-14 late in the fourth quarter, it was a senior who helped create the game-winning score.

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Camryn Debien, a senior captain from the midfield position, eluded pressure and delivered a pass to Lily Wernick, who darted toward the net and pulled chasing defenders along with her. As soon as multiple Warriors committed, Wernick dished the ball to her left and found fellow junior Hannah White wide open. She fired a shot past Jupiter goalie Morgan Kilory with 2 minutes and 3 seconds remaining.

The Tigers won the ensuing draw, with White adding an insurance goal 11 seconds later.

“We deserve this win more than any team I’ve ever played on,” Debien said. “I’m so proud of this team right now.”

Martin County used a 6-0 run to push out to an 11-7 lead - the game’s largest gap - midway through the third quarter. The visitors mounted a charge of their own, closing to within 12-11 at the end of the stanza and twice tied it in the fourth, but never regained the lead.

Penalties later hurt the Warriors, as the Tigers finished the game with a three-player advantage.

“We’ve always had competitive games with Martin County and we’ve come out on the positive side most of the time,” Jupiter head coach John Aiello said. “They have a really good team, they’ve improved and we give them a lot of credit. We played tough, but at the end of the game, they pulled it out.”

Improving its record to 14-2 this season, Martin County was the top seed in the district bracket and entered districts ranked second in Region 4-2A. The team is set to host a regional quarterfinal next week. The Warriors were the district’s second seed and will receive an at-large bid for the state playoffs.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday's game.

Draws win games

After the teams exchanged goals throughout the fourth period, the biggest play of the night happened directly after White’s game-winner as Debien controlled the following draw against the Warriors’ best player.

The ball was flipped over to White, who plunked it out of the air, drew a free position shot and extended the Tigers’ cushion. The sudden back-and-forth was no more as Martin County could breathe a little easier.

“I put everything into that last draw and I have a lot of trust in my girl Hannah in the circle,” Debien said. “I saw it go to her, I saw her get it and it was just such a sense of relief when she got the ball. That’s when I knew we were going to win this game.”

‘She’s relentless’

Debien’s draw victory came against Gabriella Palomba, a Stony Brook commit who was possibly the best player on the field on Wednesday.

The junior midfielder led Jupiter with six points (4 G, 2 A), but it was her ability to scoop up ground balls, at times in the defensive area, and use her speed and elusiveness to create fast-break chances.

“She’s obviously gifted, but she’s relentless,” Aiello said of Palomba, who had 93 points (74 G, 19 A) this season. “She just never gives up, she loves playing the game and she’s a competitor. … It’s a combination of talent, hard work and energy.

“It’s hard for one girl to dominate a sport like this, but it’s amazing how much she does stand out.”

Palomba scored Jupiter’s final goal after winning a draw and sprinting through the defense to tie the game at 14-14. But all things considering, the Tigers effectively slowed her down in the final 12 minutes.

The likes of Debien, fellow seniors Tia Talanczuk and Kacey O’Donnell were among the players keeping Palomba in their sights. And with the defense creating traffic near the net, the Warriors sailed a number of shots off target.

“She’s a tremendous athlete, full of talent and she gave us a run for our money,” Kalwa said. “But we showed our resilience and the fact that we really work together as a team. I think that’s why even when we face a team with one or two really talented players, we can get through that.”

“Tumultuous’ to triumph

Kalwa was animated and intense during timeouts and the game’s final seconds.

That energy and emotion switched into tears as she briefly choked up during a postgame hug with Debien. She was reflective at that moment.

“I’ve got two little ones and a husband that’s been nothing but supportive. And the parents of these kids have been nothing but an unbelievable support system and helped with anything we need, from being in the stands to bringing Gatorades,” Kalwa said. “We’re a family and it’s very humbling to see these girls go so far. It’s just complete gratitude to be a part of this team.”

Initially coming aboard as an assistant coach, Kalwa accepted head coaching duties in the middle of what she described as a “tumultuous” 2021 season. She was the program’s fourth head coach in a six-season stretch, and with that lack of stability came a lack of wins.

From there, the rebuilding began by strengthening connections with area middle schools as well as local lacrosse programs like the Martin County Pioneers and Stuart Lacrosse. With a commitment to skill development and culture, Martin County reached six wins each of the last two years, leading to this breakout campaign in 2024.

“The team is really encouraging with one another,” Talanczuk said. “We spend almost every single day with each other after school and it’s really important to me that I’m really close to my teammates. It’s really exciting to get to grow with the seniors and the team.”

White (42 G, 25 A) and Debien (41 G, 21 A) entered the game leading the team with 67 and 62 points, respectively, while freshman Rory Benedetto started the night as the team’s leading goal-scorer at 47 tallies.

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: Martin County tops Jupiter for first district title since '15