See who is our Bucks County area Girls' Lacrosse Team of the Year
· Yahoo Sports
A year after its season ended in the quarterfinals of the PIAA District One Class 2A tournament, Gwynedd Mercy's lacrosse team wasn't sure what to make of itself in 2026.
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"Last year was a tough season for us, and we lost a lot of games," Gwynedd Mercy senior Chloe Folk said.
"So our expectations were not that high for this year. Making it to states was definitely not in the back of our minds."
As it turned out, making it to the PIAA tournament is just what the Monarchs (14-9 overall) did as they reached the Class 2A state quarterfinals before falling to Twin Valley of District Three.
That effort also earned the Monarchs the Courier Times/Intelligencer Girls' Lacrosse Team of the Year honors.
"The last two seasons we didn't do much, and we really weren't sure what was going to happen this season," Gwynedd Mercy senior Maddie McFadden said.
"But once we beat (rival) Mount (Saint Joseph) the second time we played them this season, we knew we could do well. That win gave us a lot of confidence, and we started playing better and better every game."
When the Monarchs' current seniors were freshmen, they beat Catholic Academies League foe the Mount in the first of their two meetings and then proceeded to lose to the Magic six straight times before snapping the skid the second time around this season.
"Winning that game against the Mount changed the whole perspective of the team," Gwynedd Mercy head coach Bridget Beck said.
"You could see the difference in their confidence level and when we played the Mount again (in the district playoffs) our team was ready to go and we were able to beat them again.
"I couldn't be prouder of this whole group. The seniors this year were freshmen in my first year coaching here, and they've come a long way and really helped the program in so many ways."
Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PA High School Girls Lacrosse Team of Year Gwynedd Mercy Bucks County