COHASSET — When it involves lacrosse, the record of notable alumni at Cohasset High is intensive, to say the very least.
Over the years, numerous athletes have loved legendary careers with the Skippers, lots of which have been key cogs on championship-winning groups.
You can embody Molly Stephens in that particular group of gamers. After all, the senior is dedicated to Brown, and has been the pressure behind placing Cohasset proper again within the Div. 3 state title dialog.
However, the journey to the place the senior at present is hasn’t been as easy as its been for a few of her predecessors. Like most of her fellow teammates, Stephens was robbed of a complete season when the COVID-19 pandemic first struck in 2020.
Then, whereas coaching throughout an low season exercise with Laxachusetts again on January of 2021, the then-junior tore her proper ACL, a devastating blow. As life slowly started to return to regular for many, Stephens was sidelined for a second consecutive marketing campaign.
Some athletes are by no means the identical afterward. Stephens refused to let that turn out to be a actuality.
“Her work ethic is probably the highest,” stated Cohasset coach Kully Reardon. “It’s hard to rank her just in terms of talent, because I put that hard work so far above everything else. To have one season, go to COVID, tear your ACL, and then come back the way she has speaks volumes about her strength, her work ethic, her character and her love for this team.”
For months on finish, Stephens commuted backwards and forwards from Wellesley, the place she continually rehabbed her knee again to energy.
Although it took a while to shake off the rust initially, Stephens rapidly regained her capturing stroke a number of weeks into Cohasset’s newest marketing campaign. Entering Friday, the senior had registered a whopping 70 factors (50 objectives, 20 assists) this season alone, in addition to 70 draw controls
Stephens’ crowning achievement got here throughout a 17-0 blanking of South Shore League rival Abington again on May 23, when she sniped her one hundredth profession purpose. After lastly shattering a barrier she had been working towards, a large weight was instantly lifted from the senior’s shoulders.
“It kind of felt like I was being put back on track for my lacrosse career in a way,” stated Stephens. “Now I can just play from there, and leave my injury behind me. I feel like I’m caught up now, and I know that a lot of people are hitting that 100th goal, especially with the seasons lost. So it was really rewarding to hit that, just to know that the work I’ve put in is paying off.”
Few have been as proud as Reardon, because the longtime coach cheered her on.
“It was so great,” stated Reardon. “It was very special to her, because at the beginning of the season she was still wearing a brace, and it definitely hindered her. So only in the last couple of games has she been pain-free…to see her do that was amazing.”
Cohasset will look to embark on its newest run towards a Div. 3 title subsequent week. With a wholesome Stephens on the helm, something is feasible for the Skippers.
“Playing for Cohasset is something that is so fun to me,” stated Stephens. “I don’t even think of (the pressure). I just think of it as playing with my best friends. It can be a bit nerve-wracking, but I just have to remind myself that it shouldn’t be. It’s just all for fun, which it is.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com