League Champs and Still Climbing: Next gen powers Chicopee girls lacrosse historic run

CHICOPEE — Chicopee girls lacrosse coach Ashley Ziemba launched the program a decade ago and has been at the helm ever since. Now, ten years in, the foundation she’s built is yielding unimaginable results.

This season has been the most successful in program history. The Pacers closed out the regular season Thursday with a 15-1 record, riding a 14-game win streak and securing their first-ever Suburban League championship with a 14-9 victory over Hampshire Regional.

It was a fitting finish to a dominant regular season, filled with milestone moments, high-scoring victories, and a level of dominance never seen before in the Pacers’ burgundy and yellow.

But what’s perhaps most impressive is who is driving this success.

Underclassmen fueling record breaking season

Chicopee’s turnaround season hasn’t just been defined by wins, but it’s also been driven by the fearless play of a rising core of underclassmen who have stepped into the spotlight with the poise of veterans. Blending raw talent with consistent work ethic, the young players on the team have truly redefined what’s possible for the program’s future.

Together with steady senior leadership, the underclassmen helped power Chicopee to an explosive offensive season, outscoring opponents 242-81 and averaging over 15 goals per game. Most matchups weren’t even close.

Ziemba credits the group’s maturity and hunger as key to their consistency on the field.

“If you look at our roster, you know that we have a young team,” Ziemba said. “But if you look at the players on the field, you would not have any clue who was a freshman, who was a senior. They all really take a lot of leadership.”

Among the most dynamic contributors have been sophomore midfielder Cassidy Pytel, freshmen midfielders Sophia Moreira and Kiyah Price, and junior midfielder Madison Thibault—all of whom have delivered milestone seasons.

Moreira and Pytel both cracked the 100-point mark on May 1 in a 13-3 rout over McCann Tech. Thibault followed with her 100th point just over a week later in a 16-3 win over Smith Vocational. Meanwhile, Pytel is closing in on yet another achievement—just four goals shy of the 100-goal mark after scoring four against Hampshire Regional.

But despite Chicopee’s dominance this season, the journey to the top hasn’t come without its growing pains.

For Moreira, who now sits among the team’s top point-getters, the leap from youth lacrosse to the varsity stage was anything but seamless.

“It wasn’t easy my first year,” Moreira said. “It was kind of slow, [and] I kind of was just adjusting to it. It was a whole new level from playing [lacrosse] in youth and playing in a high school division. But I work every day. I work for what I have, and I put in extra time to make sure that I’m at these same girls’ levels, regardless of their grade.”

So, what’s been the difference this year? According to Thibault, it’s what happens when no one’s watching.

From offseason workouts to bonding beyond the field, this year’s group has built a foundation rooted in trust, chemistry, and shared commitment.

“We have been doing a tremendous amount of team bonding, which has definitely brought all of us girls a lot closer together,” Thibault said. “We also train so much in the off-season. Years previous, I feel like there was only, maybe, one girl or just no girls at all who weren’t training off season. But we all want it just as bad, so we all put in that work off season.”

Ziemba sees the emergence of these underclassmen as a sign of something bigger.

“I’ve seen kids come and they’ve picked it up freshman year, and they’ve excelled and done a great job,” Ziemba said. “And by junior, senior year, they’re great lacrosse players and they’re leaders. But this group right now, they’re starting at a younger age, which is really helping our program out.”

Senior leaders keeping team grounded

While the underclassmen have filled the stat sheet, Chicopee’s five seniors have quietly anchored the program’s most dominant season yet.

On offense, senior Autumn Seymour has delivered timely goals in clutch moments. On the back end, Ivelise Aponte and Jocelyn Coira have helped fortify a defense that’s allowed just 81 goals all year. And between the pipes, senior goalkeeper Nyeira Wilson hit a major milestone of her own, tallying her 200th career save in a win over Springfield Central.

“It was like the cherry on top because it was senior night,” Wilson said.

But their impact runs deeper than stats.

In the huddle, during practices, and in the heat of games, Chicopee’s seniors have become the emotional compass—always knowing when to step in, offer encouragement, or reset the team’s focus.

“I think the captains know when I’m playing bad or not playing as good as I usually do, and they know how to get me out of my head,” Moreira said. “They just know how to pick people up on the team and just be role models and give us motivational words to get us out of that funk.”

Learning from early adversity

Every great season has a moment of reckoning. For Chicopee, it came early.

In just their second game, the Pacers ran into a powerhouse Hoosac Valley team led by Super 7 standout Emma Meczywor, suffering a 16-11 defeat—a gut check that could have easily shaken a young team still trying to find its rhythm.

But instead of letting that loss define them, the Pacers used it as a turning point.

“We did not like that feeling of losing when we lost,” Pytel, who scored four goals in the loss, said. “We were like, ‘this is absolutely not happening again,’ and we kind of had a lot of team bonding’s after that, because I feel like the energy was just not good, and that really brought us together.”

That reset paid off immediately.

In their next game just four days later, the Pacers fought tooth and nail for a gritty 9-8 victory over Amherst—a program that had their number for nearly a decade.

“They took that [loss to Hoosac Valley] as a learning experience, instead of kind of getting down on things or beating themselves up,” Ziemba said. “They rose to the challenge, and then they took all the constructive criticism that we went over, and the coaching points and all that stuff, and they made it into a positive thing.”

That win lit a fire the team never let burn out, fueling a streak that would rewrite the program’s history.

League champs and still climbing

Although Chicopee has already accomplished a lot this spring, the season still isn’t over yet.

With the Western Massachusetts Girls Lacrosse Tournament right around the corner, the Pacers will find out on Tuesday, May 20, whether it has earned a spot in the bracket, and if so, the Pacers could take the field as early as the following day for the semifinals.

State playoff hopes are also alive and well. The Pacers currently sit at No. 41 in the latest MIAA Division III power rankings and, thanks to their winning percentage, have punched a guaranteed ticket to the postseason.

They’ve scaled one peak by winning the league. But the Pacers are now chasing something even bigger.

“It’s awesome for our program to grow over these years,” Ziemba said, “and just to see that we’re not just here to play lacrosse, we’re here to compete, to win, and to put our name on the map.”

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