MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Lacrosse isn’t big in West Virginia but to those who play or coach it, the sport can be their world.
That’s especially true for senior Mallory Napolillo.
Napolillo, a three-sport athlete, was heartbroken when the decision to cancel the spring seasons and the remainder of the state basketball tournaments was made. Not only that the entire season is lost, but also because she was about to reach a major milestone.
“Being a senior, everything means that much more to you – every moment, every play, every game, every. practice,” she said. “This year I was three goals away from 100 so that crushed my spirits. That was a goal I’ve wanted to reach since my freshman year.”
Napolillo was also a key player on the UHS girls’ basketball team at center. The Hawks were set to face No. 1 Parkersburg in a redemption semifinals game after the Big Reds defeated UHS in the state title game in 2019. It took a few days for her it to sink in, but once it did she was still hopeful that she’d get to finish out her senior year either on the turf, pine or both. Certainly the worst part was the call, but the waiting was just as bad.
“I had the idea we wouldn’t get to play. I was wishing we could, but deep down I had that feeling. Every day you hear more numbers of cases, more people are dying and it’s spreading more all over the world. At that point it’s hard to keep the faith,” she said.
Third-year head coach Kevin Armstrong and his team were two weeks into practice when it was decided the season would be canceled. Though lacrosse isn’t sanctioned by the WVSSAC, the Hawks still have to abide by the Commission’s guidelines since they’re a high school team.
“Our athletic directors require us to operate under the WVSSAC, so even though we fall under the WVSLA our two schools [follow] whatever guidelines our athletic directors and the WVSSAC set,” Armstrong said.
University is a consistent powerhouse in the West Virginia Scholastic Lacrosse Association girls’ league, which makes the cancellation that much harder for the Hawks and Armstrong to come to terms with. Likely to be in the top teams in the state, University was poised to send off seniors with a deep postseason run.
“We’re typically playing the playoffs each year, often making it close to the end and winning it a couple of times,” Armstrong said. “I believe we would’ve been one of the top 4 teams in the state. The development of some of our younger players would have helped us this year.”
With success comes participation, and the Hawks can hang their hats on a longstanding history of players showing out to join the team, this year bringing in 48 girls – more than the team has ever had. According to Armstrong, 20 newcomers grew to the point that they would have seen them logging varsity minutes.
“At the time I thought, ‘We don’t know what’s going on right now, these are the precautions we’re going to take. No big deal, let’s see how this goes and we’ll be back at it as soon as possible.’ That was the original mindset,” Armstrong said. “That changed. It became a reality after about a month it became clear it would be hard to get a season in.”
The seniors – especially Alexa Mascaro and Napolillo, both all-state players – were naturally disappointed, too.
“Lex has been playing since she was a freshman, Mallory has been playing since 5th-grade,” Armstrong said. “A lot of these girls have been playing since middle school. Some of the seniors just picked up the sport last year and had finally figured this game out and were going to see some playing time and experience what the game is all about. They worked hard to be able to earn a place that we could trust them on the field, and that was all taken away.
“I’m sad for our girls, all the seniors across the state, all of the athletes. Whether they’re underclassmen or seniors, I’m sad for all of them that they had to experience this. But I think all of them, at least the ones I know, handled it well. They were respectful and handled it like the champions that they are.”
Like Armstrong, Napolillo had big hopes for the Hawks this year. Led by a long list of seniors ready to go until the final buzzer each game, the team looked better than last year’s group, according to Napolillo. She didn’t know how good they could be, but the potential was there.
“It’s upsetting not to fulfill the [question], ‘Are we going to be great, or are we going to be good?’ And I believe that team had the potential to be great,” she said.
Although this year didn’t go the way anyone expected, Napolillo was quick to note that even though she didn’t get to finish out her senior year on the field, the other years aren’t forgotten.
“I love UHS,” she said. “People say they hate high school, but I loved representing that school. I can’t be thankful enough for what sports and the school, in general, have given me. I think that’s a cool thing, being able to leave high school even though not being able to finish it out, that’s a cool thing to have and feel.”
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