St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes senior Lauren McLemore had spent far more time this season watching her teammates from the sidelines than actually playing in games.
Laid low during a preseason scrimmage by an old back injury that caused pain in her hamstrings and hip flexors, McLemore, a starter for the Saints last season, was eventually told by doctors she needed several months of rest to let the injuries heal. Her senior season was finished.
That was why no player had a bigger smile on her face than McLemore on Tuesday afternoon as the final seconds ticked off the clock during the Saints’ dominating 18-6 victory over Stone Ridge (Md.) in the Independent Schools League AA championship game at Holton-Arms in Bethesda. More than 10 weeks of rehabilitation, including a yoga regimen and constant stretching, allowed McLemore to return to the field in the nick of time.
“I had put in so much work over the winter to get ready for my last season of high school lacrosse so it was hard just watching,” said McLemore, who was a first-team All-Northern Region selection at defender in 2004 when she helped W.T. Woodson win region and unofficial state championships. “So it means so much for me to be back on the field with everybody and actually be running around all over the place again. I’m so happy I got another shot.”
McLemore, a defender her entire life, stepped into the lineup at midfield for injured sophomore teammate Hadley Lankford and promptly acted as if she had always played the position. McLemore, who will play lacrosse at Cornell next year, scored two goals on Saturday against National Cathedral (D.C.) in a 16-4 quarterfinal win and finally felt completely healthy with two goals and an assist in Sunday’s 17-3 semifinal victory over Holton-Arms. She also added a goal and an assist for the Saints against Stone Ridge on Tuesday.
It was a great day all around for St. Stephen’s, if not unexpected. The top-ranked Saints (17-0) have now won 12 straight ISL AA titles. Junior attack Katherine Denkler registered a game-high six goals. Junior midfielder Molly Millard added three goals and four assists as the Saints scored seven consecutive goals in just 8 minutes, 15 seconds late in the first half to take a 10-2 lead. St. Stephen’s peppered Stone Ridge junior goalie Aveen Karim with 31 shots. She made 13 saves. Junior goalie Lauren Thomas had to make just three saves for the Saints.
“It doesn’t get old at all,” said St. Stephen’s senior attack Carter Foote, who will play lacrosse at Vanderbilt next year. “We always want to keep the tradition up of the teams that came before us. It feels great to win it again.”
It’s the Saints — again
» St. Stephen’s isn’t finished yet. The Saints, ranked No. 2 in the nation by the Web site laxpower.com, have a showdown at fourth-ranked Moorestown (N.J.) on Saturday. It is a rematch of a 9-8 loss in 2004. St. Stephen’s beat Moorestown, 6-5, in 2003, the last time it finished a season unbeaten.
» Stone Ridge (16-3) was led by senior midfielder Kaitlin Duff (Virginia), who scored four goals to go with the three she scored in a 15-7 loss to St. Stephen’s during a regular season game on April 28.
» Senior attack Kate Fauth and senior midfielder Carter Foote each scored three goals for the Saints. Fauth also added two assists and junior Abigail Holden had three assists.
