Toy named top girls' lacrosse player

Posted: June 15, 2012

The merit of such a bold compliment - a tad brazen on its face - was never hard to find.

Just watch Steph Toy rifle shots with either hand. Watch her make crisp passes. Watch her spin and juke, a veritable Barry Sanders of girls' lacrosse.

And if you can't watch her, take a look at Moorestown's stat sheets over the last four years.

It quickly makes sense why Quakers coach Deanna Knobloch tells anyone who will listen that "Steph Toy is without a doubt the most athletic player we've coached in my 21 years at Moorestown."

But athleticism is just a starting point for Toy, The Inquirer's South Jersey Player of the Year in girls' lacrosse.

Toy's demeanor, like her style of play, is beyond her years. Along with the rest of a deep and talented senior class, Toy, a midfielder bound for Notre Dame, proved a leader.

She helped will her team to a Tournament of Champions title, the first for the state's most storied girls' lacrosse program since 2009. She was the backbone of the unending intensity of Moorestown (26-0) this season, a year in which few teams posed a formidable challenge to the Quakers.

"She has a fierce competitive nature,' Knobloch said. "Off the field, she's a character. She has a great sense of humor; she loves to have fun.

"But the minute she steps on the field, she is nothing but focused and serious about winning. Anything you would want in an athlete, she possesses."

Toy finished this season with career highs in goals (87) and assists (61) to go with 52 ground balls. She ended her high school career with 253 goals, 150 assists, and 209 ground balls.

The stats represent one of the more memorable careers in recent state history.

But for Toy, as it is for most great players who have come through Moorestown, numbers are just backdrop.

Toy was a sophomore when Moorestown's 228-game, in-state win streak was snapped in the 2010 sectional finals.

She had her heart broken as Ridgewood escaped with a one-goal lead in last year's T of C final.

Two years without a de facto state title is an eternity in Moorestown girls' lacrosse.

But it almost seemed as if the wait made winning it in her senior year, a year in which the team recorded its first 26-win season, a tad sweeter.

Toy described beating Chatham, 12-1, in the T of C title game as being like nothing she'd ever experienced.

"We had an awesome team this year," Toy said. "We were all so close. We were a family. And just winning it with these girls meant the world to me.

"To finish the way we did, it was just a great feeling."


Contact Chris Melchiorre at rallysports@phillynews.com.

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