Sports

Laurel Sticklor ’05: Inspiration To Team

As Co-Captain of the Andover Girls Varsity Lacrosse Team, Laurel Sticklor ’05 is a strong leader, a talented player, and an inspiration to her teammates. Sticklor’s skill, motivation, and love of the game are an invaluable asset to her team, and she has led the team to a 9-3 record this season. Sticklor began her Andover lacrosse career on JV2, but moved up to Varsity her lower year and has continued to improve. Coach Kate Dolan said, “Sticklor played a bit as a lower, but she really made an impact as an upper and continued as a senior. She is an excellent role model for any young player – if you are patient, work hard, invest time and effort into your stick skills and training, then good things will happen. It is a tribute to Laurel, her character, her work ethic and her personality that she has gone from deuce to Co-Captain in her four years.” Sticklor’s dominance on the field has been apparent since the beginning of this season. In Andover’s first game of the season, against Nobles, Sticklor led Andover to an 11-4 win with three goals and one assist. In Andover’s next game, against Deerfield, Sticklor was the top scorer with three goals and three assists, leading her team to a come-from-behind 14-9 win. “I was on the basketball team and the lacrosse team with Laurel for the past two years. I have found that especially this season we always find that when the team is in a tough spot we always look to her to give the ball to. She never drops a pass; she can catch anything. She’s always there doing the right thing when you need her to,” said teammate Steph Krant ’05. Against KUA, Sticklor was, once again, the leading scorer. She netted four goals, and Andover dominated the game 13-2. In a battle of undefeated teams, Andover’s next game was versus Groton. Coach Dolan describes this game as “one of the highlights of Laurel’s season.” After a close first half, Andover pulled away with the lead and won 12-7. Sticklor scored three times and had one assist. In the next game, against Taft, Andover suffered a disappointing 16-9 loss – its first of the season – but Sticklor, as always, shone. She scored two goals and had one assist.