Ashley Werner became Saugerties High School’s top girls’ lacrosse career scoring leader late last season and on Tuesday, April 29 she passed the 200 goal mark, ranking her in the top 25 career scoring leaders in the state, according to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association.
“I’m just so glad that it’s over and done,” Werner said after the game, citing the pressure of knowing she was approaching the mark.
In Tuesday’s game, Werner scored seven goals moving her total up to 203, and helping her team defeat James I O’Neill High School 20-9.
“When I started out, I never expected to get this many goals,” she said.
Werner was moved up to the varsity late in the season when she was an eighth grader and scored a couple of goal that year. “In my freshman year, I started out slowly with just four or five goals, but later in the season I began to score more often,” said Werner.
Now she said of her role on the team, “it’s my job to score.”
She doesn’t use a lot of tricky moves to score, she’s just in the right spot to field a pass from a teammate or a rebound from a shot and put it home. Werner can be found lurking around the net when her team is on offense, just waiting for a feed from a teammate or to snag an errant pass from the opposing team. Oftentimes she’s so close to the goal that when she shoots the goalie has little or no time to react.
Other teams know of Werner’s goal-scoring prowess and will double-team her, but her uncanny ability to find the ball and an opening to score leavers her defenders scratching their heads, and walking away in defeat.
“I knew she had that champion mindset the minute she walked on the field,” said Coach Chris Curnan.
“Her stick skills are phenomenal,” Curnan added. “It’s just amazing watching her play. She’s our go to player and the one that makes things happen for us.”
Werner will be attending Hartwick College next year to play lacrosse for the Division 3 school.
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