Ocean City —
It would be fun to call the 2012 edition of the Ocean City High School girls lacrosse team the “Tess and Megan Show” for all the scoring they do.
It just wouldn’t be accurate.
Junior Tess Solazzo and senior Megan Devlin are quick to deflect credit for their deeds back onto their teammates.
And their deeds are impressive.
In the course of 72 hours last week Devlin hit, then surpassed, the 100-career-goal plateau and Solazzo became Ocean City High School’s all-time leading lacrosse scorer. But when Solazzo and Devlin talk, it’s not about them.
It’s all about the Lady Raiders.
“We were playing Oakcrest and basically we just worked as a team in order for me to get it,” Devlin said Friday of the century mark she achieved two days before. “Of course it’s great to get it, but everyone helped me out.”
Will she remember the milestone? “Most definitely,” Devlin said. “Last year I thought about getting it ... and I knew this year I just wanted to get it so bad.”
Solazzo’s record-breaking goal came Friday afternoon against Egg Harbor Township.
“I was just speechless,” Solazzo said. “It wasn’t just me, it was my team as well. We all work as a team so awesome. I can’t even explain it. The chemistry is there. We know when to pass, when not to pass. We know when to shoot. We play really well as a team.
“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have broken the school record,” she added. “I love having a great team with great chemistry.”
Solazzo got the record-breaking goal on a penalty shot with 21:04 left in the second half. It was her sixth goal of the game and she added two more before the end along with a pair of assists.
Devlin had five goals and three assists in the game.
Casey Hanna rounded out the scoring with two goals and one assist in the 15-10 victory.
Coach Matt Lane said he calls Devlin his “silent assassin” because of her quiet style of play that frequently ends with the ball in the opponent’s net.
“I always like to say Megan is like the silent assassin,” Lane said. “She just goes out there and she’s a workhorse. She’s quiet, but she’s explosive.
Solazzo impresses him because at the same time she became the school’s all-time leading scorer, she also has 100 assists. The scoring stats might make it look like she’s hogging the ball all to herself, but she is feeding the ball to her teammates so they can score as well.
It is also notable because Solazzo broke the career scoring record of 162 goals set by outstanding three-sport athlete Casey Beyel, who went on to play Division I field hockey and then lacrosse.
Solazzo broke the record midway through her junior season. If Solazzo, who has already verbally committed to play lacrosse for Division I Ohio State University, stays healthy, her goal total may end up in the stratosphere.
“One of the most impressive things to see is that it is a record standing for quite some years now,” Lane said. “Casey Beyel had set it her senior year and even when it was set it was quite a milestone. To see it (broken) when Tess is a junior is such an accomplishment, but what I think a lot of people have to understand is that she also has surpassed 100 assists for her career as a junior.
“To me, the combination of the two are signs of a very unselfish player,” Lane said. “She is team-oriented.”