Hart becomes third player and first junior to score 100 goals for Steinert girls lacrosse

Hanna Hart Steinert Girls Lacrosse 100th Goal
The Steinert High School Girls Lacrosse teams celebrate the 100th goal by teammate Hannah Hart. Photo by Michael A. Sabo

By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Apr. 25: When she was a freshman, Hannah Hart watched as Paige Meszaros scored her 100th career goal and went on to become Steinert’s all-time leading goal scorer with 116.

Hart was no slouch that season, picking up 34 of her own to finish second on the team behind Meszaros’ school record total of 57.

Having played rec and travel lacrosse before entering Steinert, Hart set an immediate goal of getting 100 by her senior year. After the 9th-grade breakout season, she set her site on doing it as a junior.

It all came to fruition today, as Hannah scored five goals, including her 100th, to pace the Spartans to a 15-4 win over visiting Hamilton West.

Hart joins Mani Kissling and Meszaros in the Century Club, but became the first junior in program history to hit the mark. It came with 3:55 left in the first half when Hart drove to the goal and shot from the right side into the left side for her fifth goal to make it 8-2.

Hannah admitted to battling some nerves, but said on that particular play she was only focused on the task at hand.

“I was just thinking about taking my shot,” she said. “The way I put it was ‘Don’t put too much pressure on yourself this game.’ I wanted to get it against our rivals; either Hamilton or Nottingham. Our next game is Nottingham, I figured I needed two games to get five goals.”

“You knew it was gonna happen, now it’s just a matter of seeing where she can take it from here,” coach Lorraine Heisler said. “Now I think she’s gonna annihilate any school records we have. I’m really looking forward to having her next year too. It’s nice to get another year out of her.”

When Hart came in as a freshman, she already had skills. But she learned a lot from watching Meszaros, who now plays for McDaniel College.

“It was her dedication; she loved the game,” Hannah said. “I’m pretty sure she didn’t start playing until she got to high school and now she’s off playing in college. Watching her get her 100th goal gave me something to look up to.”

Hart is correct that Meszaros never played lacrosse before high school, and neither did Kissling (who went on to play soccer and run cross country at lacrosse-less Mercer). Both were athletic, and Heisler feels that Hannah’s previous experience combined with her talent is what has her scoring as such a fierce pace.

Hannah Hart Steinert Girls Lacrosse

Steinert Hannah Hart sets up for one of her 5 goals of the day against Hamilton West. Photo by Michael A. Sabo

“They were all athletic and well-rounded to begin with,” the coach said. “They were all soccer players. They all had a good sense of reading the field, which Hannah does as well. The difference is she’s had lacrosse experience prior, where Mani and Paige basically used their athleticism to their advantage. Not that she’s not athletic, but she had the knowledge of the game coming in and I think that’s what helped her at this point.”

While the day belonged to Hart, several other players had big days. Emily “Mini Melt” Paternostro had three goals, while Kaylie “The Lifeguard” Skillman, Ashley Nadolny, Erin Kopec and Madison Padilla had one each.

Also notching a hat trick was Ashley Goimbert, who has scored in six of seven games this year and has 13 goals. Goimbert sometimes flies under the radar due to the exploits of Hart and Paternostro, but she has become a valuable piece of the Spartans (5-2), who are still in the hunt to share a division title with Lawrence.

“She’s a consistent player, which is nice,” Heisler said. “It’s nice to always be able to rely on her. I love her speed, I love her effort she puts in day in and day out. She never puts in anything less than 100 percent. If I could clone her, I would.”

At the other end of the field, the Hornets continue to scuffle for wins, but featured one of the game’s best players today in Shelby South. A field hockey player by trade, the senior decided to help out coach Kerryn Campbell by coming out for goalie. She was spectacular today with 16 saves.

“She has been awesome,” Campbell said. “We lost Shannon last year. We only have her for one year. But she has come so far, she’s grown, she’s been coachable, she always wants to be the best that she can be and her throws have gotten so much better. If you had seen the throws on day one as opposed to now, you’d be like ‘Holy crap is that the same kid?’

“She has just been wonderful. Her energy and her spirit is a positive factor.”

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.