In the A Division, Souderton lost all-American Maggy Harris, but looks to be the favorite again, with Abington among the Indians' tougher opponents.
SUBURBAN ONE A DIVISION
ABINGTON. The Ghosts have a senior class that has never missed the district playoffs. The team qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 1991, after years of futile effort, and has returned the last two seasons.
Some of the seniors include goalie Amy Hom, defender Rachel Li and defense wing Meredith Bathgate. On offense, senior Wendy Pierce is expected to help fill the scoring void left by the graduation of Lauren Pfefferle and Jodi Wagner.
CHELTENHAM. Nancy Baksis is the Panthers' new coach, and she has a potentially explosive offense.
Senior Meredith Jacoby is one of the most elusive players in the league, while senior Alexa Shore is a fine all-round player.
Senior Rebecca Martin and sophomore Alexis Wetzel also figure to make an impact for Cheltenham, which finished sixth last year.
The Cheltenham-Abington rivalry will have a new twist this year, because Baksis graduated from Abington in 1989 and played under Cross.
NORRISTOWN. Eagles coach Deb Lawlor is in an interesting situation.
"I have a handful of really good players," she said, "and about six who had never seen a lacrosse stick before last week. We go from one extreme to the other."
Lawlor had only 14 players last year, so the Eagles had no junior-varsity team as the varsity went winless in league play. Rosanna Taormina, Gwen Dittmar, Janice Prusinowski and Leah Racich are the top returning players.
One of the team's new players is freshman Jessica Munson, a standout on the basketball team.
NORTH PENN. Six starters return for coach Ginny Ward, whose team finished only slightly ahead of Norristown last year.
The Maidens have experienced players all over the field, including Marci Wetzel, the team's leading returning scorer. Seniors Jen Knebels and May Palmerio will anchor the defense.
