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KINGSTON — Rules differences make girls lacrosse a less physical game than the version of the sport played by boys.
Alexis Quick proved, however, that there is still room for players who make the most of aggressive, decisive plays to thrive.
Quick combined her strength, quickness and assertive play as a midfielder to be the leading scorer for the second straight season on a Wyoming Seminary team that maintained its status as the only champion the Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 have ever produced in the sport.
After scoring 73 goals to help the Blue Knights remain on top of an emerging group of challengers, Quick has been selected as the first Times Leader Player of the Year in the growing sport.
“My height and physical strength definitely give me kind of an advantage against some players on the field,” Quick said. “I don’t really think about using it. It just kind of happens.
“I just have in mind winning, or working hard, or just pushing myself to be better. … I play my best when I’m being aggressive.”
Quick helped Wyoming Seminary by winning possession battles in the midfield and by racing through opposing defenses on the offensive end to score or create scoring chances.
“She’s all over the field,” Wyoming Seminary coach Catie Kersey said. “When she gets the ball and a head of steam, she’s going to fly down the field.”
Quick, who moved to Shavertown from Kansas City in sixth grade, enrolled at Wyoming Seminary and played field hockey and lacrosse ever since. Much of the same playing style helped turn her into an NCAA Division I recruit, who is bound for Bucknell University to play field hockey.
“The running is very similar as far as how much running you have to do and how much sprinting you do,” Quick said. “Lacrosse is something I love, but I only get a chance to play in the spring.
“With field hockey being my primary sport and being on a club team, I just never have time.”
The success in field hockey brought commitment to indoor and offseason play and could have potentially put Quick behind in lacrosse, but she made up for lost time and adjusted her stick skills quickly each spring as a four-year starter who evolved into a team leader.
“The stick skills are very different,” Quick said. “Going from indoor field hockey to lacrosse, there’s definitely a transition from bending over all the time to being upright and using a different type of skills.
“It does put me a little bit behind, but this was my senior spring so that definitely made me want to work harder.”