From MVP to Team USA, Foxboro’s DiCenso Makes Cut

It all started with an application back in May. Out of the several hundred female lacrosse players from around the country that put their names in the U-19 national team pool, Foxboro senior midfielder Sophia DiCenso was one of 100 that were picked for a three-day tryout in August at U.S. Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.

From that tryout, 36 women were selected to join the training team for a weekend in October in Maryland to scrimmage Navy and the women’s senior national team. Thirty-four were then invited to California last weekend for another round of scrimmages, against Japan, England, and Stanford University.

DiCenso impressed head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller enough that she has made the cut again and is one of 23 players (from college and high school) that will be invited to training camps in June and July in preparation for the U-19 World Championships, which are being held in August in Peterborough, Canada. There are still a few cuts to make before the roster of 18 will be finalized, but DiCenso is enjoying the experience as long as it lasts.

“It was really crazy,” the University of Richmond-commit said about being chosen for the final 23. “When I got the phone call, it literally felt like a dream because this has been everything I was working for the entire winter. Every day it was the only thing I was thinking about and for it to finally be real and to continue moving forward in the next round was the most rewarding feeling.”

Amonte Hiller said in a press release, “This was the toughest decision ever. We literally could have taken any kid on the roster. A lot of times it came down to the smallest thing – the versatility between offense and defense, if they could play mid if we needed them. I’m very proud of every player and how they performed. It’s unfortunate we can’t take them all.”

DiCenso had her opportunities to shine at the Spring Premiere weekend. She played half the game against both Japan (an 18-1 victory) and England (an 18-8 win). The two-time Hockomock League MVP and reigning HockomockSports.com Player of the Year adapted well to the international game with its higher speed and new rules. “I was with the same people all weekend, so we really blended and there was so much chemistry by the last scrimmage,” she said. “We were just doing really well together.”

“It’s so much faster, but it’s so much fun because it’s so much more intense,” DiCenso added. “I just find it so exciting and being able to play at this level with players who are at this level is so much fun…The harder the competition, the better.”

This weekend also provided the team with its first opportunity to put on the jersey with USA across the front. A reminder of what they were playing for and the unique experience that they are all sharing.

“That was one of the coolest experiences,” DiCenso said about walking into a team meeting and seeing all the jerseys lined up. “We were pinching ourselves, thinking this is not real. It’s the coolest feeling to be such a small group of girls, and we’re all close friends, to be representing something that is so much bigger than we are.”

She was joined in this process by several of her club teammates. Cohasset sisters Elle and Jane Hansen and Notre Dame Academy star Madison Ahern all play with DiCenso for Mass Elite and are part of the final 23. “We’ve flown to all the weekends together, and being on the same midfield line with some them was just comforting because we all know how each other play and it was just really easy to find each other on the field,” DiCenso explained.

Her lacrosse career started, she explained, when she was given a plastic boys’ lacrosse stick as a kid. She joined the Outlaws Lacrosse program that was started by Foxboro boys coach Matt Noone to play in tournaments up and down the East Coast and then made the switch to Mass Elite as she got to high school. Even at an early age, DiCenso had her sights set on being a success.

“It was like sixth grade and I used to do shooting lessons with (former Foxboro standout) Abby Tepper and we’d watch older players and I was always like, I’m going to play Div. I lacrosse someday,” she recalled with a chuckle. It didn’t take long for her desire to play in college to become a reality. By her freshman year of high school, colleges had already recognized her talent and her coaches, including Mass Elite coach Leslie Frank, were preparing her for the next level.

She credited the support of all her coaches and friends, both at her club and high school, for making her dream of college lacrosse come true. She said, “I have the best support from friends, coaches, teachers, family members and it makes me want to work harder to meet those expectations. It’s rewarding to have all this support and if I didn’t have it, I don’t know where I’d be.

Her college dream will come true next spring, but in the meantime there is plenty of lacrosse still to play as the senior is focused on bringing another league title and a first sectional title home to Foxboro.

“That would be one of the best endings to a senior year,” DiCenso said. “It’s time. We have such a strong senior class and we have all been together since fifth grade in Outlaws at Booth (Field) on the little grass fields and we always talk about it’s our year. I think we’re all really ready and we’ll see how it goes but I have high hopes.”

There is a couple of months before the high school lacrosse season kicks off and DiCenso is working hard with her club team, but now she has the added motivation of fighting for her place at the world championships.

“I can’t wait,” she said. “Our coach was just like, this is when all your hard work begins. I just can’t wait to hopefully prove myself one or two more times and then hopefully I’ll be in Toronto.”