All-Delco Field Hockey: Notre Dame's Lauren Curran takes on challenge to repeat as POY - PA Prep Live

All-Delco Field Hockey: Notre
Dame’s Lauren Curran takes on
challenge to repeat as POY
RADNOR — Lauren Curran realized quickly that her senior season
at the Academy of Notre Dame was going to be quite different
than her junior campaign.

“Every game there were two or three people on me,” Curran
said.

That’s the price of success. Earn Player of the Year honors as
a junior, s Curran did, and automatically you have a target on
your back. You’re the No. 1 focus on every opponent’s scouting
report.

Some players have difficulty dealing with that sort of
attention and pressure. Not Curran. She thrives on challenges.

Notre Dame’s Lauren Curran, seen in a
                        game last year, managed to improve on
                        her Player of the Year numbers as a
                        senior to earn the honor for a second
                        consecutive season. (Digital First
                        Media/Pete Bannan)

“I just had to dig deep within myself,” Curran said. “I didn’t
let it get to me. I was still able to get around defenders or
I took it as if there are two or three people on me, one of my
teammates has to be open. I was able to use my skills. I
didn’t think about it. I just tried to play my best.”

Despite the attention, Curran went on to score 48 goals and
hand out 13 assists to lead the Irish to an 18-3-1 record and
an 8-2 mark in the Inter-Ac League. That’s nine more goals and
two more assists than she had as a junior, and it came against
a much tougher nonleague schedule, one that included games
against state and area powers Penn Manor, Villa Maria, Mount

St. Joseph, Downingtown West, Conestoga, Merion Mercy and
Archbishop Carroll. The Irish won all of those games.

In the process, Curran became the first player in program
history to reach the 100-goal mark in three seasons, finishing
her career with 103 goals. It took Moira Putch, the 2012 and
2013 Daily Times Player of the Year, and Quinn Maguire, the
2016 Player of the Year, four seasons to reach the century
mark.

For that, Curran is the 2018 Daily Times Field Hockey Player
of the Year. She is the third player from Notre Dame to
receive consecutive Player of the Year honors, joining Putch
and Katie Gerzabek (2009 and 2010).

“I think that’s what made this year so special for Lauren,”
Notre Dame coach Adele Williams said. “She just enjoyed the
challenge. The more she got doubled up, the more she rose to
the occasion.”

Curran is one of six repeat selections on the All-Delco team,
which was chosen by the Daily Times sports staff after
consultation with county coaches. Also earning all-county
honors for the second straight year were Curran’s teammate Mia
Leonhardt; Lauren Devletian, Gianna Pantaleo and Maddie Rehak
from Episcopal Academy; and Haverford’s Sydney Corcoran.

The first team also includes Keri Daly (Archbishop Carroll),
Olivia DeCain (Radnor), Caroline Kelly (Episcopal Academy),
Carly Gannon (Haverford), Page Lowry (Radnor) and Jessica
Schneider (Notre Dame).

READ: PAISAA champ Episcopal Academy places four on first team

Notre Dame’s Lauren Curran is the
                        2018 Daily Times Field Hockey Player
                        of Year. (Pete Bannan/Digital First
                        Media)

Curran and the Irish were tested from the start, thanks to the
daunting schedule put together by Williams and assistant
coach, Jackie Gerzabek. Notre Dame opened the season against
Penn Manor, which was ranked No. 1 in the Maxfieldhockey.com
preseason national top 25. Curran scored twice that day,
including the winner, and had an assist in a 3-2 win over the
Comets. That victory vaulted the Irish into the top spot in
the national rankings, where they would stay for three weeks.
Notre Dame was No. 23 in the final poll.

It began a trend where Curran came up big in big games. She
scored three times each against Villa Maria and Conestoga and
twice against Carroll. Curran notched nine game-winning goals
in all.

“I have to thank my teammates,” Curran said. “I wouldn’t be
able to score all those goals without them. They got me the
ball.”

Along the way, Notre Dame gained a measure of revenge. It beat
Mount Saint Joseph and Merion Mercy, the two teams the Irish
tied a year ago, and avenged losses to Villa Maria and
Downingtown West.

READ: The full list of All-Delco Field Hockey honorees

The season, though, was not without its struggles. The Irish
came up short in the bid to win their third consecutive titles
in both the Inter-Ac League and Pennsylvania Independent
Schools Athletic Association tournament. After starting
14-0-1, the Irish went 4-3 in its last seven games. Two of
those losses came to rival Episcopal Academy, one in the
regular season and the other in the PAISAA semifinals. The
other setback was a 4-3 decision to Germantown Academy.

“To end the season not winning was disappointing,” Curran
said. “We won PAISAA last year, but this year we beat the
teams we didn’t beat last year. It’s sad we didn’t do that in
one year, but overall, my high school career went well. That’s
all you can ask for. We won PAISAA and Inter-Ac twice and I’m
proud of that.”

And now it’s off to Boston College, where she committed as a
sophomore.

“I wish I had another year here,” Curran said. “I feel like my
high school career just started and now it’s over, but I’m
excited about the future. I wanted a school that was going to
challenge me academically and athletically, and Boston College
will do that. I want to be a physician’s assistant, and BC has
a very good biology program and the field hockey team is one
of the best in the country. I can’t wait to get up there.”