Jenny Simpson, New Canaan
Photo by Dave Stewart
The fact that the New Canaan High School girls lacrosse program returned to prominence in the FCIAC has gone lock-step with Jenny Simpson’s career isn’t a coincidence. During her high school career, the New Canaan attacker was one of the driving forces behind the Rams’ resurgence and a key weapon in the team’s offensive arsenal.
Even with numerous options, head coach Kristin Wood knew Simpson was the player the Rams could turn to when the chips were down.
“She is an all-around, unbelievable leader on and off the field,” Wood said. “Her athleticism, attitude and positive energy helps the team in every situation possible. (In 2008), when we were down in the Darien game and the Wilton game, she turned people on and got us back and moving.”
Simpson will take that fire and energy to the next level in the spring of 2010, as she joins the women’s lacrosse team at the University of New Hampshire. Simpson signed her Letter of Intent during her senior year at NCHS and will receive a partial scholarship. She choose the Wildcats after considering several schools, and Wood feels its a perfect place for her departing star.
“That’s a great fit,” the coach said. “She’ll fit in well there and hopefully get some starts at a freshman. She can go in there and make some waves right away.”
“From the start I kept my options open and I was waiting for things to fall into place,” Simpson said. “It came down to a few schools and I just thought that UNH would be the best fit for me academically and with lacrosse.”
New Canaan was a .500 team the year before Simpson arrived, and went 11-5 in 2006 with Simpson getting a bit of playing time. Wood took over as head coach in 2007, and Simpson became a starter on the offense as New Canaan compiled a 12-6 record.
During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, the Rams compiled a combined record of 35-10 and were the only team to reach the FCIAC championship game each year, playing in two of the most compelling league finals in recent history.
They lost to Wilton 15-14 in the 2008 final, when Simpson sparked a five-goal rally with three scores as New Canaan nearly erased a 15-9 deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining.
In 2009, New Canaan gave the heavily-favored Darien Blue Wave all it could handle before again falling by one goal, 10-9.
The Rams’ two-year run also included a dramatic 15-14 come-from-behind win over Darien in the 2008 FCIAC semifinals — the Blue Wave’s only loss to a Connecticut team during the past four years. New Canaan has also beaten league rival Wilton twice, including in this year’s FCIAC semis, and Greenwich once. Simpson has been the team’s leading scorer during the past two seasons and was the leader in many of their big victories.
Incredibly, her contributions in lacrosse almost didn’t come to pass as she viewed herself as more of a soccer player when she entered NCHS in the fall of 2005.
“I came to high school thinking that soccer was my main sport,” Simpson said. “But that definitely shifted to lacrosse. The coaches and my teammates made me love the sport that much more. It’s meant so much to me.”
Simpson is a rarity among today’s high schoolers — a three-sport athlete who excels in each season. While with the Rams, Simpson never took a season off, collected nine varsity letters, and captained both the varsity soccer and lacrosse teams. She also ran for the track and field team during the winter.
“I just love it, it keeps me going,” Simpson said. “I think I’d be too bored sitting around after school doing homework. It’s definitely what gets me through and I enjoyed every sport and all my teams.”
Simpson’s four-year career lacrosse career at NCHS included 236 goals, 69 assists and 87 ground balls. That includes a team-best numbers of 87 goals as a junior, and 90 goals and 38 assists as a senior.
The trifecta of captains, including Simpson, Veronica Lizzio and Meg Boland, was golden for the Rams, as the three combined for 221 goals and 94 assists this spring. Lizzio finished with 72 goals and 22 assists, while Boland had 59 goals and 34 assists.
All three received National honors in June — Lizzio as an All-America honorable mention, and Boland was as an Academic All-American.
Simpson was named to the All-America First Team and received All-State and All-FCIAC First Team honors. During her career, she was a three-time All-FCIAC player, and was named All-State three times — twice making the First Team and once making the Second Team.
Simspon was also given New Canaan High School’s most prestigious sports honor, when she received the Joe Sikorski Memorial Award in June. The award is named in memory of the legendary NCHS coach and honors athletes who display “leadership, loyalty, enthusiasm, dedication and pride in New Canaan High School.”
Simpson and Nate Quinn, the quarterback of the Rams’ 13-0 football team, received the award, and Simpson was taken aback by the honor.
“I was not expecting anything like this at all,” she said. “I’m so honored to receive something as great as this. I’m in shock.”
Her departure from NCHS is bittersweet, as the Rams are losing one of their stars, but Simpson feels the team is in good shape with returning players such as Kacie Pippitt, Anjalie Christie, Erin Fessler and goalie Charlotte Spitzfaden.
Simpson and the rest of her classmates had set a goal to return the team to prominence and they accomplished the feat in no uncertain terms.
“I was always hopeful,” Simpson said. “Now that we are competitive with them and we’re up at their level, it’s just a great feeling, I can’t wait to see how they do next year and in the years to come.”
Dave Stewart, the Sports Editor of the New Canaan (Conn.) Advertiser, is a MaxPreps.com writer and photographer. He may be reached at 203-966-9541 or at sports@ncadvertiser.com
