Shawnee strikes early, often in rout

It wasn't a hotheaded evaluation. It wasn't delivered arrogantly.

But after such a big win, Shawnee girls' lacrosse coach Janae Zechman's casual, matter-of-fact assessment of her team did sound a little odd at first.

"We obviously put the ball in the net," she said. "But we did have a lot of turnovers during the game. And that's something we need to work on. I wasn't super happy with our lack of basic skills today."

The performance Zechman was referring to was Friday's 18-3 road victory over Lenape, ranked No. 5 in The Inquirer's South Jersey Top 10. Zechman's initial reaction wasn't what one usually expects from a coach after an overpowering win against one of the top teams in the area.

But these days, the Renegades, ranked No. 2 by The Inquirer, hold themselves to a higher standard.

And, fielding a team led by six Division I recruits, they have no reason not to.

"We've been getting better and better since the beginning of the season, and that's our goal," said Nicole Troost, a junior attack who committed to the University of Massachusetts on Monday. "And we are playing very well right now."

Troost paced the Renegades with five goals against Lenape (3-1). Alexis Newman added four, and Shannon Nugent scored three.

Senior goalie Alex Zaugra, a Delaware recruit, turned in her usual strong performance with six saves.

Zaugra made some of her best saves in the final minutes of the game when her team was up big and a persistent Lenape attack looked stronger and stronger.

"Every game, we focus on working as hard as we can until the end of the game regardless of what the score is," Zaugra said. "Every opponent we play, we know we're only going to get better if we stay focused."

Oddly, Shawnee's desire to improve constantly is part of the reason the team has already suffered two losses.

The Renegades dropped games in the past week to Chatham and Ridgewood. The two are perennial state powerhouses and two of the top-ranked teams in the state.

After dropping a 12-8 decision to Chatham on Saturday, Shawnee lost by 12-11 to Ridgewood on Tuesday.

If nothing else, the games proved that Shawnee (3-2) belongs in the conversation with the top teams in the state.

But there's a bigger reason why the Renegades schedule those games this early in the season.

"Those types of challenges show us how good other teams are and how good we need to be," Zaugra said. "It helps us work harder. It builds character. Even though we have two losses right now, we're moving right along and we're getting better every game."

Shawnee   11 7 – 18

Lenape   2 1 – 3

Goals: S-Nicole Troost 5, Alexis Newman 4, Shannon Nugent 3, Keri White 2, Becky Stiles, Karlee Dean, Kristin Kocher, Marina Mestress; L-Olivia Streilein 2, Nicole Donnelly.

Saves: S-Alex Zaugra 6; L-Caroline Huelster 5.