Sara Williams is The Ledger's 2022 Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year
All Saints Academy midfielder Sara Williams led the nation in goal scoring for a girls lacrosse player for most of this season.
It wasn’t until the playoffs when Francesca Frieri of Lockport, Illinois, surpassed the first-team all-county player. Still, Williams scored 144 goals — the most of any high school girls lacrosse player in the state — on the way to settin an All-Saints’ single-season scoring record.
For that, Williams is The Ledger’s 2022 Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year.
“It feels good,” Williams said. “I put a lot of work into it, so it feels like it paid off. But what I really wanted is for the team to win a district championship because I've played for so long and it’s like we came so close two times. So the record means a lot, but I want to win for the team, rather than just for myself.”
Williams has been trying to win since the sixth grade when she first suited up for All-Saints. Since that first year she has helped the team to a Class 1A-District 6 championship appearance in 2019 and 2022 while racking up six first-team all-county appearances.
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This year, individually, she had two had 14-goal games, one 12-goal contest, four 11-goal games and two 10-goal performances.
The junior midfielder, though, will be the first to admit that her passion and desire to be one of the best lacrosse players in the nation was honed by All-Saints head coach Aricka Ward, as well as older competition.
“It was always I had a bunch of girls, like upperclassmen, that were super inspirational to me. And I always strived (and) wanted to be like them, so basically, coach Ward told me, ‘Put in the work. You have the athletic ability to do it because I play other sports too.’
So she said, ‘If you put in the work and take the time to watch the game, like watch college games, stuff like that.’”
“Sara is a natural athlete and competitor," Ward said. "She’s become a student of the game.. “She watches all levels of lacrosse and isn’t just growing her athletic ability but her IQ too. Because of this, she’s never plateaued.”
This mentality, along with bulking up in the weight room, helped Williams develop her game ... and she's had some memorable ones.
In the district semifinals against Lake Wales on April 12, the Saints were able to avenge an earlier 14-12 loss by winning 18-17 versus their Polk County rival. Williams scored 10 goals, had one assist and put up eight ground balls in the contest. All Saints had not beaten Lakes Wales since 2019, when the Saints made it to the district championship game.
“It just proved that all the hard work I put in over the season and everything, it all paid off,” Williams said.
While Williams is being recruited by colleges, her hard word won’t stop. She will play in tournaments and camps all summer, including those organized by the University of Tampa and Florida Southern, to prepare for her senior year.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Sara Williams is The Ledger's 2022 Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year
