Racking up 30 percent of your team's total goals for the season is pretty impressive. So is leading all of Section III in scoring two years in a row. The reasons Stephanie Rice will amaze you on the lacrosse field add up quickly, but ask her about all of her accomplishments and her response will be the most impressive thing about her.
The Citizen file photo
Skaneateles senior Stephanie Rice (4) has scored 106 goals this season.
Skaneateles senior Stephanie Rice (4) has scored 106 goals this season.
“It's kind of exciting (to score so much), but it doesn't really mean anything to me,” Rice said. “I'm only focused on us winning games; it doesn't matter how many goals I score.”
To the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team, though, her 106 scores and 21 assists have mattered a lot.
In a game against regionally ranked Shawnee, N.J., earlier this year, the Lakers senior tallied seven goals, including the tying score to send the contest into overtime and then the winning shot in triple overtime. Rice has scored five or more goals in 13 of the Lakers' 21 games, but it's not only the times that she scores the most that make the biggest difference. She also scored three crucial goals in the regional quarterfinals and she found the net a school record 11 times in the Section III, Class C semifinals against Westhill on May 15. Skaneateles head coach Bridget Marquardt took her out of the game with 10 minutes on the clock.
“I had no idea how many she had scored when I took her out,” Marquardt said. “When I found out, I couldn't believe it. Most of them were assisted too.”
Incredibly, Rice is just one of a handful of fantastic players on the Lakers roster, yet she still manages to score - and do everything else - in massive amounts. Marquardt has called the fifth-year varsity player “the Energizer Bunny” for her ability to be the most versatile athlete on the field in any game and never tire.
“She stands out because she doesn't just score goals, though she is great at it,” Marquardt said. “She's a fantastic leader on the field as our captain, she gets the ground balls, she plays defense, gets draws and is one of the hardest workers on the team. She gets hit every game, but she still finishes scores, and I've never heard her cry. Every team puts their top defender on her and she still comes out and does what she does. She's also not a ball hog, which is what makes her such a great player. In a lot of these games, defenders just can't keep up with her.”
As the longest-tenured player on a consistently great team, Rice has earned the right to talk about how great she is. Her long resume of accomplishments on the lacrosse field include New York State Tournament MVP last year, a handful of first-team all-league selections, and an All-American nod last season. But the tenacious player only wants to talk about everyone else.
“We have a lot of great players,” Rice said. “Every win has been a team effort.”
To finish her lacrosse career at Skaneateles with a third straight state title would, of course, be ideal for the Hofstra-bound standout. But even as the Lakers have decisively won a sectional title in each season Rice has been on the roster, she sees something special about this year's squad.
“This year's team is really close,” Rice said. “Every year the players are close friends, but with only 20 players, it's a smallish team. It keeps us close and it helps us play better. We know each other so well, we know how to play off of each other and how to react. We know when someone is having a bad game and how to try and pick them up.”
For the player who has scored at least three times in every game but two this season, Rice would really just like to end her amazing career with just one more hat trick. And not that kind that you'd think.
“I've enjoyed every year on this team, each one has gotten better and better,” Rice said. “But it would be really nice to have a championship my senior year.”
If you go
What: Girls lacrosse state semifinal, Skaneateles vs. Nanuet
When: 6 p.m., Friday
Where: SUNY Cortland
To the Skaneateles girls lacrosse team, though, her 106 scores and 21 assists have mattered a lot.
In a game against regionally ranked Shawnee, N.J., earlier this year, the Lakers senior tallied seven goals, including the tying score to send the contest into overtime and then the winning shot in triple overtime. Rice has scored five or more goals in 13 of the Lakers' 21 games, but it's not only the times that she scores the most that make the biggest difference. She also scored three crucial goals in the regional quarterfinals and she found the net a school record 11 times in the Section III, Class C semifinals against Westhill on May 15. Skaneateles head coach Bridget Marquardt took her out of the game with 10 minutes on the clock.
“I had no idea how many she had scored when I took her out,” Marquardt said. “When I found out, I couldn't believe it. Most of them were assisted too.”
Incredibly, Rice is just one of a handful of fantastic players on the Lakers roster, yet she still manages to score - and do everything else - in massive amounts. Marquardt has called the fifth-year varsity player “the Energizer Bunny” for her ability to be the most versatile athlete on the field in any game and never tire.
“She stands out because she doesn't just score goals, though she is great at it,” Marquardt said. “She's a fantastic leader on the field as our captain, she gets the ground balls, she plays defense, gets draws and is one of the hardest workers on the team. She gets hit every game, but she still finishes scores, and I've never heard her cry. Every team puts their top defender on her and she still comes out and does what she does. She's also not a ball hog, which is what makes her such a great player. In a lot of these games, defenders just can't keep up with her.”
As the longest-tenured player on a consistently great team, Rice has earned the right to talk about how great she is. Her long resume of accomplishments on the lacrosse field include New York State Tournament MVP last year, a handful of first-team all-league selections, and an All-American nod last season. But the tenacious player only wants to talk about everyone else.
“We have a lot of great players,” Rice said. “Every win has been a team effort.”
To finish her lacrosse career at Skaneateles with a third straight state title would, of course, be ideal for the Hofstra-bound standout. But even as the Lakers have decisively won a sectional title in each season Rice has been on the roster, she sees something special about this year's squad.
“This year's team is really close,” Rice said. “Every year the players are close friends, but with only 20 players, it's a smallish team. It keeps us close and it helps us play better. We know each other so well, we know how to play off of each other and how to react. We know when someone is having a bad game and how to try and pick them up.”
For the player who has scored at least three times in every game but two this season, Rice would really just like to end her amazing career with just one more hat trick. And not that kind that you'd think.
“I've enjoyed every year on this team, each one has gotten better and better,” Rice said. “But it would be really nice to have a championship my senior year.”
If you go
What: Girls lacrosse state semifinal, Skaneateles vs. Nanuet
When: 6 p.m., Friday
Where: SUNY Cortland
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