Bucks County High School Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year Combines Hard Work and Exceptional Skills

It is calm instead of panic and ease instead of fear.

Look at Upper Moreland junior lacrosse player Annalise Messina when she has the ball. She just reacts differently than most others on the field.

Girls Lacrosse Elite 10: Bucks County High School Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year Combines Hard Work and Exceptional Skills

“It’s something I’ve never seen before,” said UM head coach Kim Frantz. “It’s like the stick is part of her body.

“Everything flows so smoothly and effortlessly and is so much fun to watch.”

Yes, but getting to the point where an athlete makes it seem that way is the hardest part.

“Annalise plays the way she plays because she puts hours and hours and hours into it,” Frantz said.

“She gets up at 5 in the morning to train, then goes to school, then goes to train with us, then trains with her club team. That’s how she dominates in competitions because of her hard work.”

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That dominance earned Messina the Courier Times/Intelligencer Player of the Year award.

“She deserves it,” Frantz said. “No matter who we put out there, she just dominates. When we play against the private schools that are recruiting, she’s still the best. Annalise is just fun to watch.”

Messina, who has committed to Rutgers University, finished the season with a team-high 116 goals and 34 assists. The Golden Bears posted an 18-6 record and qualified for the PIAA Class 2A tournament for the second straight year.

“This year has been a lot of fun,” Messina said. “We lost some really good players from last year, but everyone has stepped up and we’ve gotten some freshmen who have really helped us.”

UM also won its first PIAA tournament game this season, making it only the second girls team in the Courier Times/Intelligencer region to do so (Gwynedd Mercy is the other).

They did it by beating District Two champion Abington Heights 11-9 with Messina, a midfielder, scoring seven of the goals. More importantly, three of those goals came when the Golden Bears still had an 8-7 lead in the third quarter.

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Suddenly the score was 11-7 UM and the game was over.

“She’s the best lacrosse player Upper Moreland has ever produced,” Frantz said. “Kids like her usually don’t stay — they go to private school — but she did and she’s only going to get better.”

Drew Markol writes about local sports for PhillyBurbs.comSupport our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared in Bucks County Courier Times: High School Girls’ Lacrosse: U. Moreland’s Annalise Messina is top player