Haslett-Williamston girls lacrosse sets new standard with record season
EAST LANSING ― Just moments after the final horn had sounded, Breyer Fenech shared a long embrace with a few of her teammates at the center of Lynn C. Adams Stadium at East Lansing High School.
It was a meaningful moment to Fenech and those she shared her lacrosse journey with in the Haslett-Williamston girls lacrosse program the last several years.
It also was a culmination of the work Fenech and teammates have put in over the years to help Haslett-Williamston take another big step forward and find themselves playing in a state semifinal.
“It’s like (our) coach said, it’s leaving your jersey in a better place (than when you came),” Fenech said. “You want to be proud of the way you ended things. I think we’re all very proud of the way we ended our season, even though it wasn’t exactly what we wanted.
“We accomplished so many things.”
While the final outcome Wednesday was a 15-7 loss to state power East Grand Rapids, Haslett-Williamston will take plenty of positives from a spring they finished 19-3 and finished one win shy of reaching the MHSAA Division 2 championship game.
After winning a share of the CAAC title last season, Haslett-Williamston was the dominant girls team in Greater Lansing this season.
Haslett-Williamston captured the CAAC regular season and tournament titles. It won its first regional championship in program history and set a record with 19 victories.
"I think it was really key with the senior leadership that we had as well as our other leaders," Haslett-Williamston coach Chad Pastor said. "We talked about setting those standards and what we wanted and what those team goals were. I think it's just having players like Breyer, Brianna (Nedwick), having Ree (Baetz) out there leading on the field and leading by example and pushing the players was part of the key to where we got to."
Being at this stage seemed a little difficult to imagine for Pastor a few years ago when he took control of the program. Getting a taste of playing against a power like East Grand Rapids and being among the final four teams left in Division 2 gives Haslett-Williamston an idea of where it wants to go next.
"That's what we're looking to accomplish and I think we've moved the program really far ahead, which is what we've been trying to accomplish," Pastor said. "I think these girls absolutely believe in it. They believe they can get here again next year. We have the talent to do it. We have new players coming in. It's going to be great. Now it's just putting all the pieces together and finding those little sparks they need in those tough games like a semifinal."
Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Haslett-Williamston girls lacrosse raises the bar with dominant spring
