Senior-Loaded Skippers Eye D-I Crown

CRANSTON — The North Kingstown High girls’ lacrosse team opened up its season at the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Injury Fund Round Robin Tournament at Cranston Stadium Sunday.

Each of the 10 Division-I teams present at the Round Robin played two 25-minute games with running time.

Although it is only very early in the season, the Skippers showed why they should be one of the favorites this season with an 8-1 win over South Kingstown and 9-2 win over Mount Hope.

“We felt good, I think that things are coming together,” senior captain Chloe Reid said. “We have to not get too confident off of our wins today, and hopefully just go in strong.”

The Skippers looked sharp in their two games, generating good scoring chances on offense while not giving up many to the opposition on defense.

“I thought they played pretty well as a team, their catching and throwing was pretty on point,” Higgins said.  “We definitely need to work on our defense, and particularly our team defense.”

Reid, along with co-captains senior Julia Smiley and senior Emma Coppola, will spearhead a talent-laden North Kingstown squad this season.

“We have a lot of quality players for sure, so we just hope to be able to compete all season long and we’ll see how it goes,” Higgins said.  “All of those seniors for sure can come in and help out, they can play for sure.  We’ve got a few underclassmen, and the kids can definitely play.”

The Skippers have a ton of experience returning this season, with 12 seniors on this year’s roster that each played varsity last season.

“A lot of us seniors have been playing together since we were 12, so I’m really optimistic. I think that we can do well,” Reid said.

“It’s really great to see that we’ve all grown together. We’re all at this point, and we all want to do great this year together,” Coppola added.

Reid has had her share of disappointments over the past few years after the Skippers have made playoff runs, but were unable to break through with a championship.

“I’ve personally been through the loss of a championship, a loss in a semifinal and we’ve never won never won a championship,” Reid said.  “I think this is the year that we definitely have the talent to do it.”

North Kingstown will begin what hopes to be a year that ends with a state championship banner Tuesday April 5th when they take on South Kingstown at 4 p.m. at Curtis Corner Middle School.

“It’s the first game, so we’re going to feel it our first and just go from there,” Coppola said.  “We’re looking to take a win, maybe just work on our offensive plays, and work on our tight defense.”