7 South Jeff lacrosse players seal deals to take talents to college

ADAMS, New York (WWNY) - It was a big day at South Jefferson on Wednesday as seven girls’ lacrosse players signed letters of intent to continue their playing careers at the next level.

Four players inked Division I letters: senior midfielder/attack Savannah Hodges signed to play at the University of Albany, senior midfielder/defender Sophia Watts committed to the University of Albany, senior midfielder Jade Doldo put pen to paper to attend Robert Morris, and senior defender Madison Pfleegor signed to play at Niagara University.

Two players will continue their careers at the Division II level: senior midfielder Laurelle Surette committed to Slippery Rock and senior attack Hannah Hathway signed to play at Southern Connecticut.

One player is moving on to Division III: senior goalie Anna Hobbs inked a letter of intent to play at the Merchant Marine Academy.

“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Watts said. “I mean, all my coaches, my family, my friends have helped me and pushed me along the way to get to this day and I’m super excited for it.”

“I’m super excited,” Hodges said. “I’ve worked really hard for this. I’ve put in extra time in the summer, off season, and we’ve just grown so much as a team which has made every single person in here shine, which is why we have these opportunities today.”

“It took a lot of hard work and dedication,” Doldo said. “Part of that has come from my team and community around me. I’m so happy to be where I am today with their help.”

“The journey definitely has not been easy,” Pfleegor said. “All the coaches put so much time and effort into every single one of us that it’s definitely helped me achieve the goal of playing Division I lacrosse. My coaches and family members are a big part of it and I’m very excited.”

For coach Jen Williams, it was a proud moment to have seven of her players take their talents to the next level, adding to a growing list of South Jeff Lady Spartans playing college lacrosse around the country.

“These student athletes have been a group that’s come up all the way from the youth program that has followed the footsteps of some of their idols as they were going up through,” Williams said. “This particular group of kids has been outstanding in the classroom academically, which has created a wide variety of opportunities for them to find the college of choice of all the thousands of colleges to choose from.”

Those seven South Jeff girls’ lacrosse players prove that hard work both in the classroom and on the field can pay big dividends in achieving a lifelong dream.

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