It won’t be long before the sun is shinning, birds are singing, and the Boothbay lacrosse team is in action. This is Boothbay’s third year as a varsity program and the Seahawks made the Class B North tournament in the team’s previous two. Last year, the Seahawks finished 11-3 in the Class B North standings. Boothbay finished fourth in the Heal point standings, but lost to No. 5 Saint Dominic’s Academy in the quarterfinals.

Boothbay returns this season with optimism for duplicating last year’s achievement of hosting a playoff game. Boothbay has a mix of returning players and newcomers. Ten Seahawks played last year. This spring, coach Donna Jordan welcomes six first-year players. But a major difference occurs this season to Maine schoolgirl lacrosse. The Maine Principals Association added a third girls’ lacrosse classification. So Boothbay will compete in Class C against other teams with school enrollments below 600. 

Even though the new class bridges the gap  between Boothbay and 11 other Class C teams, the Seahawks will still compete for a tournament berth against schools with significantly larger enrollments.

“We’re looking forward to another successful season, but a lot has changed. We’re playing a different schedule, but there are still a lot of teams 2-3 times larger than us,” said senior goalkeeper Page Brown. “We’re playing Gardiner and Sanford, which both have really good programs, and we really won’t know how good we are until the season starts.”

Boothbay is the third smallest school in Class C with 215 students. Only private schools Saint Dominic’s (180) and North Yarmouth Academy (142) are smaller. The largest Class C girls lacrosse teams are Erskine Academy (581), Lincoln Academy (579) and Fryeburg Academy (562).

This year’s team includes seven seniors on the 16-player roster. Several seniors date back to when it was club sport in 2014 and they have played significant roles in the last two seasons’ playoff berths. On defense, four-year starter Brown stands tall in goal. When the team began in 2015, Jordan began her first season coaching a sport she’d never played, let alone coached. Since the sport was a new experience for both players and coach, she asked for a volunteer to be team goaltender, or the entire team would share the position.

But a freshman volunteered and Brown has been the Seahawk goaltender ever since.

“Page stepped up and has done a great job for us,” Jordan said.

On offense, the Seahawks have several returning front line or attack players. Seniors Evy Case, Jo Shaw and Jackie McLoon were key contributors last year and Jordan expects their experience to pay dividends this spring.

Case and McLoon return for a fourth season. This will be Shaw’s second season. “Jo has developed a good shot and developed a nose for the goal. Evy and Jackie have experience, which will pay off for us this season,” Jordan said. Midfielder Sydney Meader has scored 83 goals in the past three seasons. Meader is also the school’s all-time leading field hockey scorer. Jordan said some players just have a knack for scoring goals.

“She is fast, but she also has that love  of scoring goals. It’s something you just can’t teach,” Jordan said.

On defense, junior Lilley Harris has been a solid defender the past two seasons. Freshman Kylie Brown is also expected to play a key role on defense.  “Kylie is a smart player. She is really picking up quickly how to defend cutters and passers,” Jordan said.

Boothbay plays Lincoln Academy in Newcastle at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 24. The Seahawks’ first home game is at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 26 at Sherman Field.