FMS lacrosse girls go 13-2-1, then beat 3 N.C. high school JV teams
Montana Wright has always had a passion for lacrosse and in 2017 she took her love of the game to a different level.
Wright, a one-time president of The University of Tennessee Women’s Lacrosse Club, went into coaching for the first time when she took the reins with the Farragut Middle School girls lacrosse team.
“This was the first time that I’d ever coached and I had a lot of fun teaching these girls the game,” Wright said.
About Farragut’s 13-2-1 final record, “They’ve really improved if you look at where we were when we started to where we were when we played in our championship game,” Wright said.
The Lady Admirals had a bevy of eighth graders including midfielder Megan DiFranco, goalkeeper Lili Dase, defender Sassy Montross and Olivia “Liv” Specht, the team’s Offensive MVP.
“Megan DiFranco was a force on the field, and as a midfielder she’s all over the field,” Wright said. “She’s an eighth-grader whose presence will be greatly missed.
“Our goalie, Lili Dase, definitely won us some games this season. We were confident when any team was granted a free position shot on goal because Lili is a natural,” she added.
“Helping Lili was our dominant defense player Sassy Montross. She was a force to be reckoned with on the field. Her speed and aggressive nature deterred many goals this season.”
The top two offensive players for the Lady Admirals were Specht and Loryn Kelley.
“Olivia ‘Liv’ Specht was such a selfless player, who looked for the assists all season long,” Wright said. “I completely trusted her when she had the ball in her stick.
“Loryn Kelley was our leading goal scorer this year. She has such an accurate shot, now, as an eighth grader. I can’t wait to see her improve in high school,” the coach added.
Following the middle school season Wright and FMS went to Asheville to play in a 7-versus-7 tournament. There, the Lady Ads defeated three high school junior varsity teams. Megan, Lili, Sassy, Jordyn Velez, Olivia, Loryn and Alexa Castillo made the trip to North Carolina along with seventh-grader Maci McWhirter.
Farragut’s other postseason team award winners were Megan (Team MVP and Midfield MVP); Sassy (Defensive MVP); Zoe Butler (Coach’s Award) and Tess Martin (Best Teammate).
