Kirsch became the first girls lacrosse player in school history to commit to a Division I school in the offseason and is hoping to lead Williamstown to its best season yet in 2018.
Senior Gabbi Kirsch has set multiple firsts during her time with Williamstown High School girls lacrosse.
Last season, Kirsch became the first player in the program’s history to score 100 career goals. In the fall, Kirsch made history again when she signed her National Letter of Intent to play lacrosse at Temple University. She will become the first Williamstown female lacrosse player to play for a Division I school.
This season, Kirsch is hoping to be part of another first. After the Braves finished a program-best 10–10 last year, Kirsch hopes she and her teammates can push the team to its first-ever winning season in 2018.
“Each year, our goal is to just be better than the previous year,” Kirsch said.
Kirsch has seen the growth of the Williamstown girls lacrosse program firsthand. She joined the team in 2015 as a freshman. It was the second year Williamstown fielded a girls lacrosse team. It was also head coach Brooke Cantwell’s first year with the program.
“It was interesting to say the least,” Kirsch said. “We had lots to work on and Cantwell just got here. It was just about getting the foundation first. We were all freshmen starting and we weren’t as good as we are now.”
“It was really difficult, especially in the Olympic Conference, because we were always getting blown out,” Kirsch added about her first season, where Williamstown won just five games.
Kirsch picked up lacrosse in sixth grade, just a few years after Williamstown’s youth program started.
“I immediately joined because I didn’t like softball,” she said. “It was too boring.”
Kirsch admitted she was a raw player when she joined the Braves as a freshman. She credits much of her growth to Cantwell, who formerly played for a four-time state championship team in Moorestown High School and became an All-American for Rutgers University in 2010.
“She’s really made me into the player that I am now,” Kirsch said. “Without her, I wouldn’t be the player that I am.”
Cantwell believes Kirsch’s success comes from her intangibles. She praised Kirsch’s willingness to improve her game and learn new techniques.
“I know I can talk to her about what she’s doing, good, bad, and she’ll take it and do what she needs to do to get better,” Cantwell said.
Kirsch made an immediate impact on Williamstown as a freshman, leading the team in goals with 35. She finished second on the team in 2016 with 46 goals and led the Braves again last season with 52. In the first three games of 2018, Kirsch has already scored 11 times and added seven assists.
Cantwell said Kirsch’s improved stick work coupled with outstanding speed has helped her develop into a scoring threat. However, she believes Kirsch’s biggest strength isn’t her prowess on offense, but instead what she brings to the team in terms of leadership.
“It’s her character and it’s her hustle,” Cantwell said. “She goes 100 hundred percent at all times. She will do whatever it takes to do.”
Cantwell, a teacher at Williamstown Middle School, said the younger lacrosse players in town look up to Kirsch, her fellow seniors and the foundation they are building for the future of the program.
Kirsch added it was neat to be part of the foundation for what could be a very bright future for Williamstown girls lacrosse. Right now, however, her focus is on making the Braves a winner this year. Kirsch said the team is hungry to make some noise in South Jersey this season.
“We all have that winning mentality,” she said. “We’re out for blood this year.”
