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Ringing the Belle on offense.
Walker-Weinstein made one thing clear from the start: No one player will be asked to become the next North.
“Charlotte was special,” she said. “She was the Michael Jordan of women’s lacrosse and maybe even men’s lacrosse.”
The team is looking forward — and to Belle Smith. The All-American midfielder burst onto the scene as a freshman, becoming one of the few rookies to make a significant impact in the fifth-year-filled 2021 season. The Eagles won it all that year. Despite her stat line last year, much of the attention went to North. But this fall, Smith showed the staff she was ready to take the mantle — or at least a large piece of it.
“Belle is primed for her time,” Walker-Weinstein said. “I lean on Belle. The team leans on Belle. Belle is so comfortable in that spotlight and with that pressure on her. She will lead our team this year.”
Who will surround Smith?
Belle Smith will have a supporting cast, and this year it will largely be based out of the midfield. Kayla Martello (45, 6 A) is physical and dominant and will be leaned on to execute as well as she did in the fall.
Courtney Weeks sat out last season with an injury. She and her twin siste Cassidy (30 G, 10 A) will be two key cogs in this year’s offense.
“They are the full package, ideal midfielders,” Walker-Weistein said. “They’re incredibly smart. Cassidy is a Duracell battery.”
Ryan Smith is another two-way midfielder with mental toughness on defense and offensive playmaking abilities. Andrea Reynolds’ (4 G, 3 A) explosive speed and strength will also be key on both ends of the field, while Lizzie O’Neill showed consistency and flare on defense.
Annabelle Hasselbeck played in six games last year and was initially tapped as an attacker but will likely factor into the midfield in 2023.
Of course, there’s a key attacker who is on every defense’s radar in Jenn Medjid. Walker-Weinstein calls her a silent assassin and says her dodging ability is next-level.
What does the draw unit look like?
The graduations of North and Taylor bring about another question: Who will gain possession on the draw? The two alums corralled 229 of the Eagles’ 319 draws in 2022 (71%).
Hollie Schleicher, who finished second on the team with 108 draw controls last year, is the easy answer.
“Without Hollie’s draw controls, we don’t win — period,” Walker-Weinstein said. “We score enough goals. We don’t have half of those goals without Hollie grinding in between the 30s and getting us the ball on the draw.”
Her cousin, Smith, was the beneficiary of these hustle plays. Smith will also likely step into and onto the circle in 2023.
“Belle is very coachable and wants to be on the circle and take the draw,” Walker-Weinstein said. “Her high IQ allows her to do it.”
Reynolds (10 DC) will also likely contribute to the unit.
ENEMY LINES
WHAT RIVALS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE EAGLES
“They should be really good again. That defensive unit is probably the best defensive unit in the country right now. As a group, all those kids as freshmen won a national championship and now they have a wealth of experience with no graduations defensively. Then you add in the No. 1 goalie in the recruiting class. Certainly, it’s the best defensive unit in the country, and then you have great All-American level players on offense like Belle Smith and Jenn Medjid and Kayla Martello. They have a ton of talent. It’s just going to be managing offensively not having Charlotte North. Who is their next superstar? I don’t know who that is.”
“Sometimes, when you lose a player like Charlotte North, there are other players that look forward to stepping up and doing their thing. They return a lot of their defense. They’ll figure out the draw. Medjid, Belle Smith … I think Martello is really great.”
68.0%
My favorite new stat for the 2023 season is on-goal shooting percentage. We tend to think of shooting percentage is reflecting a goal or no goal outcome, but that’s wrong. Shots that are missed off-cage are much less damaging to an offense than shots that are saved by the goalie (and likely sent the other way in transition). A team that has more of their misses off-cage rather than saved will be a more efficient offense. So, we need an on-goal shooting percentage stat to tell us how a team does on high-leverage shots, the ones that are on-cage. Boston College was the leader across Division I in this area last year: a full 68% of their on-cage shots went in.
Lacrosse Reference Glossary
