Winners of two consecutive FAA Tournament championships, Greenwich Academy’s Varsity A lacrosse team began its 2026 season the way it ended its 2025 campaign: with an impressive victory, of course.

Scoring 10 first-half goals, while playing effective defense throughout, Greenwich Academy began the new season in style, showcasing its strengths in a decisive 12-2 home win over FAA opponent Hamden Hall Country Day School on April 6th.

The 2025 season saw the Gators register an impressive 13-3 record on their way to winning the FAA Tournament title with a 7-4 victory over Greens Farms Academy in the championship game. Eight seniors, all of whom contributed greatly to GA’s success, graduated from last season’s championship squad, which is led this spring by seniors Reese Quinn, Maggie Whidden, Leighton Collier and Ellie Watts. Quinn and Whidden are GA’s 2026 captains.

“It’s a good start, obviously, we have great chemistry and the team is fun to be with,” Whidden said, following GA’s season-opening triumph versus Hamden Hall. “Everyone is happy to be playing again. We’re so lucky to be part of this group of girls and especially leading them, means so much to us.”

Whidden is one of the Gators’ many midfielders on the squad. Reese helps fortify the team’s strong defensive unit.

“I’m really proud of our team, we’re a young team for sure and I think we just came out really hard and had a lot of energy,” Reese said after Greenwich Academy’s season-opener. “One of our themes this year is having each other’s back, so if we make a mistake have your teammates’ back and back them up and I think we did that today.”

Of the eight seniors that graduated from Greenwich Academy’s 2025 FAA Tournament championship team, six are currently playing lacrosse in college – Eliza Babyak (Bryant University), Katie Barr (playing at Dartmouth College), Lila Cabot (Middlebury College), Ruby Montanez (University of California, Davis), Persia Shipman (Kenyon College) and Lila Volpe (Villanova).

“The vibes have been super positive,” Greenwich Academy second-year coach Tee Ladouceur said. “We graduated a lot last year – our leading goal scorer, our starting defense, our starting goalie, so there are pretty much holes to fill all through the field. But this group is young and energetic and they’re not backing down to the challenge of that, which is fun to see and I’m excited to see where it goes.”

In the Gators’ victory against visiting Hamden Hall Country Day, sophomore Kelly Drury recorded four goals and one assist, Taylor Bruce tallied two goals and three assists and Marina Vintiadis had two goals and one assist. GA took a commanding 10-2 lead on the Hornets into halftime.

“I feel like it was a good way to warm up for the season and a nice way to start off on our home turf,” said Collier, a midfielder/attack and dynamic playmaker. “It’s a way for us to get the kinks out.”

Bruce opened the scoring in GA’s win over Hamden Hall, tallying from close in with 9:36 remaining in the first quarter. Consecutive goals from Drury gave the Gators a 4-1 advantage at the 2:37 mark of the opening quarter. Sophomore midfielder Winnie Newman turned a steal into a goal, giving GA a 5-1 lead on the Hornets with 1:50 to go in the first frame.

“We came out a little bit slow, but we had the energy to keep it going and we started putting some goals away and we started getting more excited about it,” Whidden noted. “Taking care of the ball on the attack side really made the difference.”

Drury scored off a pass from Bruce 56 seconds into the second quarter, then Bruce tallied off the ensuing draw, making it 7-1 in favor of Greenwich Academy. Junior attack Perry Casazza, who will be among the athletes relied upon to pace the Gators’ offensively this season and Vintiadis, a freshman, added a goal apiece in the first half, which ended with the hosts ahead, 10-2.

While Greenwich Academy’s offense flourished its defenders made it difficult for the Hornets to get open shots on goal throughout this FAA matchup held in chilly, blustery weather conditions. Quinn and juniors Abby Iles and Niamh Cooney will be relied upon to help lead GA’s defense this season in front of sophomore goalie Lauren Connell, who registered three saves versus Hamden Hall.

“Our defense, they are a tough group to get by when they are firing on all cylinders.” Ladouceur noted. “It almost at times looks like we haven’t lost too much. Connell, she has seen some good competition already and she’s ready for it.”

Junior Eliza DeChristopher had one goal, Casazza posted one goal and one assist, freshman Lucy Motland had one goal, sophomore midfielder Maddie Lane assisted on a goal and sophomore midfielder Barrett Hausmann added one assist for the victorious Gators.

Indeed, GA seems to have numerous versatile athletes capable of filling more than one role.

“We have a variety of different ages on offense.” Collier said. “We’re very young, we only have four seniors, so the majority are underclassmen. Everyone got some reps. We have a lot of potential and it’s looking good.”

Up next for Greenwich Academy is a home game against formidable Ridgefield High School on Thursday (April 9th) at 4 p.m. The Tigers were victorious against the Gators in 2025 up in Ridgefield.

“For Thursday, we are really excited,” Reese said. “We’re going to work really hard in practice this week. Especially on defense, just locking down, having each other’s backs on those slides and pressing out early on defense.  On attack we are going to work on moving the ball quickly and trying to have any opportunities as we can.”

After hosting Ridgefield, Greenwich Academy will take a short trip to neighborhood rival Greenwich Country Day School on Saturday (April 11th) for a 10 a.m. FAA matchup.

“We want to thrive as much as we can in the FAA,” Whidden said. “Our  goal is to win it. The main goal is to have fun and play our best.”