Howell Girls LAX Competes Impressively in Wildwood Tournament

While on a day to trip to Wildwood last summer, Cassie Petty, a member of the Howell girls lacrosse program, took notice of a beach tournament taking place at the Jersey Shore resort town.

Petty knew it was only fitting that her Rebels' squad should have the chance to compete in the tournament next time around.

"It was so cool," Petty said, "I knew right then and there that I had to find out more about this and become a participant."

Petty, along with varsity coach Christina Nunez, recruited nine of her Howell teammates, and participated in the tournament on the sand, July 16 and 17.

Howell mistakenly signed up for the wrong age group, however, and instead of playing other high school teams in the "U18" category, the Rebels' ended up taking on college teams and players in the "open" category.

Kean Universtiy, Bloomsburg University, Elmira College and Kutztown University were among the colleges represented at the only beach tournament in the United States.

The Lady Rebels' toughest test of the tournament was against the Kutztown University varsity girls lacrosse team. Howell fell by a score of 19-7, but Petty said that the team certainly stood its ground.

"We held our own and I had the personal satisfaction of achieving a hat trick," she said.

Howell's squad was a mixture of varsity and junior varsity, with three incoming seniors in Petty, Alyssa Aboff and Rachel Rovner leading the squad.

Juniors Taylor Milanowycz, Ally Brown, Bridget McCormick and Marissa Conover, along with sophomores Sarah Brown, Joelle Boyle, and Carina Ayesh all participated as well.

Petty lead the team in scoring with 10 goals over the three games they played, and Conover had her best game in net in an 8-7 win over Team Foolery, registering over 30 saves.

Seventy teams participated in the tournament with six boys divisions and five girls, and participants had unlimited access to Moorey's Pier amusement park and the water parks.