Senior Sriya Potturu has poured countless hours into playing Varsity Girls Lacrosse for JP Stevens. By earning the GMC All-White Division Award, Sriya has not only excelled in her role as goalie but also in constantly uplifting the team spirit. The team commends her for her positive attitude and helpful nature.
Sriya’s lacrosse career began her sophomore year. At a time prior to ever playing the game, a senior goalie asked if she was interested in playing goalie for the team. This question soon turned into two hours Sriya would spend after school over the weekend practicing drills to improve her reaction time and stick handling.
“[She] fell in love with the sport and specifically being a goalie because it allowed [her] to interact with everyone on and off the field,” said Sriya.
Over the years, Sriya has earned a multitude of notable achievements as goalie. Just last year, she celebrated a massive 100 saves. The team lovingly celebrated this monumental achievement with balloons and posters, showcasing the team’s love of their goalie. Not only did she reach this major milestone, she went on to reach over 200 saves over the 2023-2024 season! Of these saves, the Hawks game against Nottingham garnered her highest save ratio of 83.3%. In addition, 22 of the aforementioned saves came from the game against Sayreville, the highest amount of saves Sriya earned in a single game.
As Sriya’s senior season began, Sriya was most excited for the after school practices with the team. Her favorite team event, called ‘Eats”, is another aspect she enjoyed. “Eats” events are run by the upperclassmen on the team, where the team all gather at a player’s house and share snacks. The event serves as an opportunity for the team to hang out off the field. In Sriya’s eyes, it brought her closer to many of her teammates that she might have not interacted with before.
Sriya’s senior season also comes with a number of responsibilities. For one, she runs preseason. Starting in november, the team and aspiring players meet weekly at a local park to practice drills and shuttles in preparation for the spring season. As the off season comes to a close, these preseason practices become more frequent. At the same time, Sriya’s responsibility as a goalie comes with training an underclassmen who will soon take on that role. Currently, she is training a sophomore, just as her senior goalie had trained her.
“Sriya taught me everything I needed for when I got in goal,” said sophomore Kashish Patel. “I would often think about what we practiced during training sessions and how I could improve.”
Sriya discusses how she’ll miss both the sport and its players. Reflecting on fond memories, Sriya knows she will miss the team the most and she is so glad to have met each and every one of her teammates. While Sriya does not have plans to play college lacrosse, she has thought about joining a club team later on. Regardless of whether she continues with her lacrosse career, the JP Stevens girls lacrosse team will miss having Sriya as their goalie.
