By Meghan Foley
Hometown Weekly Staff
During the girls’ lacrosse team’s first playoff game on May 27th, senior Tara Battaglino broke the all-time points record for a girls’ lacrosse player at Wellesley High School. While she had already surpassed 300 goals on April 28th and the 331 goals record after that, a player’s points include both goals scored and assists made.
During their final regular season game only a week earlier, Battaglino earned nine goals and two assists, which was nothing out of the ordinary for her. With the whole postseason ahead, it was inevitable that she would break the record, and Raiders fans didn’t have to wait long.
It was still the first quarter when the game was halted because the Raiders had scored their fourth point for a 4–0 lead and Battaglino had earned her 512th point. Fans and players cheered while it was announced over the microphone that the record had just been broken. The entire team joined Battaglino on the field and they presented her with a hand-made poster.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment,” said Head Coach Steve Balter after the game. “It was a 15-year-old record—Blake Dietrick, who graduated in 2011, held the record, she was a tremendous athlete herself who ended up playing in the WNBA, so like a super high-level athlete who played lacrosse and basketball, so for Tara to break her 15-year-old record is a really special one and it’s one of the great records that’s been around here for a long time.”
“I started lacrosse as soon as I could really walk,” explained Battaglino. “I always would copy what my older brother, John, did so ended up playing mostly all sports when I was younger. As I got older, I focused more on lacrosse and basketball, eventually replacing basketball with indoor track and putting all my focus into lacrosse.”
Although it was a highly-anticipated accomplishment, Battaglino said: “I tried to not think about the record at all [going into the game]. I was just excited for the first round of the tournament and to get on the field and be the best player I could be for myself and my team. The record was a nice add on!”
The Raiders had a lot to celebrate that night. As the 7th seed in D1, they won the game 17–4 over 26th-seeded Boston Latin to advance to the final 16. Battaglino scored six goals and made four assists; Emi Gander, Sienna Snyder, Maddie Coggins, and Addie Foster each made two goals with an assist by Coggins; and Jessie Heller, Mia Prall, and Sadie Filoon each scored one. After the game, the Raiders also finished celebrating their senior night that had been delayed due to the rain the previous week, cheering for each senior and presenting them with flowers.
With one playoff game behind them, Battaglino said: “I am having so much fun so far in playoffs seeing how much our team has grown over this year and cannot wait to keep taking it one game at a time.”
“[I’m] really proud of her,” concluded Balter, “and as I always say with her, you know, she’s obviously great on the field but she’s even a better person and a great leader, so… that’s what I’ll remember most about her, is just what a great person she is, and then of course, it’s amazing to have her as a player.”
Congratulations to the girls’ lacrosse team, especially to seniors Tara Battaglino, Abby Beggans, Kristina Garcia-Miller, Alexa Heller, and Mia Prall.
Raiders’ schedules can be accessed online at: arbiterlive.com, while power rankings and brackets can be found at miaa.net/game-day/tournament-central.
