By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

When Maddy Brennan decided to step down as the Hopedale girls lacrosse coach, Athletic Director Stephanie Ridolfi had to start looking for her replacement. Under Brennan’s guidance, the Blue Raiders went 13-5 last year and earned themselves a spot in the Division 4 State Tournament where they unfortunately fell to Westwood in the first round.

While Ridolfi was searching for Brennan’s replacement, Brian O’Neill, a former football and soccer player at Uxbridge who had coached his oldest son’s soccer team, was thinking about the position.

When O’Neill’s son decided to make the transition from soccer in Uxbridge to the Northbridge Youth Lacrosse League he wasn’t prepared to coach a sport he knew nothing about. However, when all the teams had coaches except his son’s, he decided to coach even if he had no idea what he was doing.

“If I hadn’t stepped up the kids wouldn’t have a season,” O’Neill said. “I had never played the sport nor knew anything about it. Another dad reached out to help but he also knew nothing about the sport.”

While O’Neill’s son would only play lacrosse for two years, his daughter started taking up the sport. O’Neill served as assistant coach at the beginning and last year took over as the team’s head coach. With his daughter enjoying the sport, Uxbridge formed a co-op with the Hopedale girls lacrosse team, and this is where O’Neill found out about the opening.

“I had heard that they were looking for a varsity coach and I figured that if I applied, they would move the JV coach into the varsity position,” he said. “However, I soon found out that Hopedale didn’t have a JV coach either and I just couldn’t let a bunch of kids not have a season, so I talked to Stephanie.”

O’Neill’s opening line to the Hopedale AD was, “I’m probably not the right person, but I’d try.” Ridolfi saw something in O’Neill and hired him as the girls varsity coach for the upcoming season.

“The game on the varsity level is very different to me, and it was an eye-opening experience and had me wondering how I could actually help this team,” the new coach said. “They are a great family unit at Hopedale and, although I didn’t have a lot of history, the girls were a very good team thanks to last year’s coach Maddy Brennan.” They were a very cohesive unit, which O’Neill thought would be a blessing in the long run. 

When O’Neill first met with the team, he had them go home and write down their goals. The majority of the girls came back with wanting a winning record, one better than last year’s 13-win season. They also wanted to make it back to the state playoffs and grab at least one win and hopefully make some noise. Finally, they wanted to grow as a team.

Having lost six seniors to graduation and not knowing their skill set, O’Neill was unaware of what was lost by their departure. As he has gotten to know the team, he has realized this group of girls do not have one major star – instead, they are a top to bottom team that plays as a cohesive unit. 

“There has been no complaining, the girls are always working hard,  and the leadership has been phenomenal so far, so I am just letting them do their thing; Stephanie [Hopedale AD Ridolfi] had played lacrosse in college, and she has been helping me with resources,” the coach said. “I feel pretty good about the team and am hoping that we can surprise some teams that don’t see us coming.”

While he has minimal experience, especially on the high school level, O’Neill has told the girls that if they work hard he will work hard for them. 

Some of the girls who have had a tremendous influence thus far have been tri-captains Catherine Bisson, Alli Pearlman and Morgan Charbonnier, who have stepped up to help the new coach guide the team. The younger athletes on the team are also continuously looking up to them. Bisson will play defense; Pearlman, who is headed to Assumptions University next year,  will be protecting the goal; and Charbonnier, who will be heading to an undecided college next year, will be one of the team’s attack players.

Although the team does not have a lot of varsity subs on the sidelines, the junior varsity athletes will find themselves getting filtered into games on occasions. 

“The starting 12 is one heck of a group,” O’Neill said. “The entire team has fully impressed me, and they have all worked together so well. I am here to boost their level of play and help make them better.”

O’Neill says he fully believes the team’s three goals are achievable, and he is hoping he can replicate last year’s success while looking to better it. The first-year coach believes that Brennan left him in a good spot and the team should be able to get to the playoffs and make some noise.