WORTON PARK — Kent County’s girls will face off against their Shore rivals from Easton this afternoon in what is expected to be their first real test.
The Trojans are 3-0 in varsity lacrosse — their best start since before the pandemic — with all three victories coming against lesser-established programs in Cecil County.
But that’s not to say winning has come without effort, even if the final score would suggest otherwise.
Most recently, the Trojans overcame a 4-0 halftime deficit on the way to a 13-6 win at Bo Manor.
Leading the comeback on Thursday, March 26 were Jane Cleary and Abby Gallo each with a hat trick and Keelyn Clayton and Mary Jane Joiner with two goals apiece.
Abi Strayer finished with 13 saves.
Strayer and the low defense anchored by seniors Grace Gerstung, Tess Fuchs and Savanna Reynolds were credited with keeping the game from completely getting away from the Trojans early.
“It was a game of two halves,” said Jim Egan, who moves up from assistant to head coach at KCHS.
“In the first half, our defense was OK but we were not executing on offense the way we should. We missed passes, and had too many turnover,” he said.
Kent County looked like a different team in the second half, winning every draw control but one and scoring six unanswered goals to pull ahead, 6-4.
“Overall, the girls got it together by the end of the third quarter,” Egan said.
After taking the lead at 5-4, the Trojans led the rest of the way.
Liza Loller [two assists], Clare Gerstung and Taylor Strong each contributed a goal for the winners.
The struggles in transition from defense to offense were not as apparent in the 14-6 victory against the Tome School on March 23 when Kent County led wire to wire.
Clayton, a freshman attacker, led the way with four goals; she received the game ball.
Gallo was three-and-two from midfield for a game-leading five points.
Loller [one assist], Cleary and Clare Gerstung each contributed two goals, Joiner was one-and-two, and Fuchs had an assist as the Trojans intentionally “spread the scoring around,” according to coach Egan.
Strayer totaled 13 saves — five stops in the first half and eight more in the second.
Kent County pulled back the curtain on the 2026 season on March 20 — the first day of spring — at Worton Park against North East.
There was additional emotion and significance for this game because in the fall underdog KCHS rallied from an early one-goal deficit to defeat North East at North East to win a region championship in field hockey. Most of the players on the Kent County lacrosse team, 13 of the 17, are members of that region championship hockey team.
Gallo found the back of the net five times in the 8-4 victory. She received the game ball.
Joiner scored twice, on an assist from Gallo to deadlock at 2-all and then with a laser shot from the top of the crease for a 3-2 lead.
The Trojans did not trail after that.
Cleary’s only goal of the afternoon held up as the winning goal. In traffic, the crafty southpaw faked with her right hand before firing a shot with her left hand for a 5-3 lead.
Gallo scored twice more to extend the spread to 7-3 at intermission.
Strayer’s stop on a point-blank shot with 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter boosted the Trojans’ confidence.
In the halftime huddle, Egan emphasized “good passing, and run the offense.”
At the conclusion of the game he told his players, “this was a good start.”
“We’ve got to clean up our passing, have better control, and help the defensive girl when she’s trying to clear,” he said.
Egan is the Trojans’ fourth head varsity coach in as many years, but he is no rookie.
For eight years, beginning in 2005 when his day job was as a chemist at LaMotte Company, he was Kent County’s junior varsity coach.
His connection to KCHS lacrosse includes two sons and three daughters having come through the program, and now a granddaughter on the team.
Egan’s assistant is KCHS soccer and lacrosse alumna Jiordan Carter.
The Trojans bring back most of the players from last year’s 7-7 campaign that ended with a loss in the Class 1A East Region II championship game. The seven wins were more wins in one season than the four previous seasons combined, and there was not a senior on the squad.
Heading the list of returnees are senior midfielder Mary Jane “MJ” Joiner [26 goals], the three-time team MVP who is headed to Roanoke College in the fall; junior midfielder Jane Cleary [37 goals], who has committed to Bridgewater College; and sophomore midfielder Abby Gallo [35 goals].
The other senior returnees are defenders Tess Fuchs, Grace Gerstung and Savanna Reynolds.
The returning juniors are attackers Liza Loller [8 goals] and Taylor Strong, and the returning sophomores include attackers Clare Gerstung and Kayla Aguilar and goalie Abi Strayer.
Strayer sat out the second half of the 2025 lacrosse season and all of the fall 2025 field hockey season while she healed from an injury.
The newcomers are led by three talented freshmen, low attacker Keelyn Clayton and defenders Mackensie Egolf and Abigail Parr, and a sophomore who has rec league experience but is playing high school lacrosse for the first time, attacker Mali Wirth.
Brand new to the sport are junior Josephine Barnes and sophomore Aiyanna Copper; they likely will start out playing low attack.
