Archbishop Carroll’s Ava Bleckley is The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media’s 2023 Girls Lacrosse Athlete of the Year

Ava Bleckley certainly has a knack for putting the ball into the net, her 59 goals this season pacing the Archbishop Carroll girls lacrosse team.

But the senior’s effort and tenacity made sure her impact was felt all over the field as the Patriots capped another year with a PIAA championship.

“Nobody can really coach that,” Bleckley said. “For me to be able to just be like ‘I want to go out and I want to play, I want to work hard,’ that’s just kind of my mentality. And I think I can go out and shoot so many reps of right and left-hand shots but there’s only so much you can do to work on defense and I think that’s kind of mindset is I work out, I work hard and that just kind of shows in those stats.”

From goals to ground balls, collecting draw controls or stifling opponents on defense, Bleckley, the 2023 The Reporter/Times Herald/Montgomery Media Girls Lacrosse Athlete of the Year, did everything needed to help lead the Patriots to impressive campaign that saw them finish 23-1, claim another Philadelphia Catholic League crown and win a third consecutive state Class 2A title.

“I know I wanted to give it my all, I wanted to work hard,” said Bleckley, who will play in college at James Madison. “So definitely on defense, just the hard work, the gritty plays, the aggressiveness and transitioning that into my offense. And I felt like we did a really good job of that this year, the whole team did but that was definitely something personally that I was looking to kind of showcase this season.”

As a junior in 2022, Bleckley did not get the full opportunity to do so – having come to Carroll from Academy of Notre Dame PIAA transfer rules prevented her from playing in the states. But this year was a big reason the Patriots cruised through its four games in the tournament, culminating in a five-goal effort in the 17-5 victory over Twin Valley in the PIAA-2A final.

“Last year, I definitely was on the sidelines and wasn’t the happiest about it,” Bleckley said. “And it definitely sucked just sitting there watching. But this year, I was excited to be back. And I just wanted to play lacrosse and I did and it really paid off and we won.”

Carroll edged Twin Valley 10-8 in the 2022 title game but in the rematch Bleckley scored the opening two goals and struck four times before halftime as the Patriots took a 9-2 lead into halftime at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium and rolled a 22nd consecutive victory.

“I feel like everybody, every single day, wanted the end result of this season to be a state championship,” Bleckley said. “So everybody, everyday showed up to practice with the mentality of a state champion, of wanting to work hard, pushing each other in practice.  You know, at practice on the field whether it’s the scrimmages or in the sevens, we’re pushing each other and we’re each other’s competitors for that day because we do want the best for each other and want that trophy at the end of the day. And we will do whatever for it.”

While also leading Archbishop Carroll in goals, Bleckley – a USA Lacrosse All-American and a PCL first team selection – also finished with team-bests in both assists (39) and points (39). The senior was first in caused turnovers (24), tied for first in ground balls (25) and was second in draw controls (78).

After being edged by 9-8 Agnes Irwin – which went on to win the PAISAA title – March 30, the Patriots did not drop another game, a run that included topping eventual PIAA Class 3A champion Owen J. Roberts 8-6 April 11, Bleckley collecting three goals, a pair of assists and a draw controls in the victory.

“That was the highlight game of my season,” she said. “Just because we knew it was going to be a tough game, the whole team did and I knew it was going to be a tough game. OJR does have some really great girls.”

Carroll also claimed nonleague wins over PIAA-3A quarterfinalist Radnor (17-5 April 22), PAISAA runner-up Penn Charter (10-8 May 9) and PIAA-3A semifinalist Springfield-Delco (13-7 May 11) and earned its 22nd consecutive Catholic League title – extending its winning streak over PCL opponents to 276 games by rolling past Cardinal O’Hara 20-3  in the league final May 19.

The Patriots outscored their four opponents in the state tournament 64-17. Bleckley handed out three assists in the 17-2 first-round win over Upper Moreland, scored a hat trick as Carroll beat Gwynedd Mercy 20-5 in the semifinals then posted a goal, an assist and five draw controls in a 20-5 victory over Mount St. Joseph in the semifinals.

“Playing under (Carroll coach Lorraine) Beers it’s such a great honor because you know the legacy she holds and the past girls and women that have played under her,” Bleckley said. “And they’ve all done such great and wonderful things and just to be a part of that it’s just so awesome.”

Before heading off to James Madison – which her sister, rising Carroll senior Chloe has also committed to – Ava Bleckley still has a busy summer of lacrosse.

She was among the 99 players invited to the July 7-9 tryouts for the United States Women’s U20 National Team. Ava Bleckley will attend HHH Lacrosse Club’s Committed Games July 21-23 and play in the Senior All-American Lacrosse Game July 29 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

“Definitely busy but definitely a ton of fun being able to compete,” Ava Bleckley said. “Especially going to this (U20 national team) tryout, I don’t think it would be fun if I wasn’t competing against the best 99 girls in the country. So I think busy but definitely fun.”