Rose Bryant of Kennebunk plans to take her lacrosse stick west and find a niche with one the nation’s newest Division I programs next spring.

Bryant, who leads the Rams in scoring for the second consecutive season, intends to try to earn a spot on the fledgling women’s lacrosse team at San Diego State.

While lacrosse remains important, it wasn’t Bryant’s main reason for choosing San Diego State.

“It has what I want to major in, which is hospitality and business,” she said. “I want to be an events planner eventually and they have a very good program for that.”

Bryant still wants lacrosse to remain a big part of her life.

“I also wanted a school that had Division I lacrosse and they just started it in 2012, so I thought that would be a good one to get into,” she said. “I really wasn’t looking for a really hard-core D1 program, so I thought this would be a good fit.”

The Aztecs, who play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, ended their second varsity season last month with an 8-8 record. The roster included four juniors, 14 sophomores and nine freshmen.

Last season, Bryant scored a team-high 51 goals for the Rams and led Western Class A with ground balls. After nine games this season, she had 36 goals, 10 assists and 27 ground balls.

“Rose understands the game inside and out, and she has amazing field sense,” Kennebunk Coach Annie Barker said. “She has the nose to go to the goal.”

Bryant has been a boon to a Kennebunk team that includes four freshman starters.

“She’s been an amazing teacher to these kids and an amazing instructor,” Barker said. “She understands every aspect of the game, whether it’s offense or defense. If I had to put her in the defensive end, she could play there as well.”

In the summer leagues, Bryant has played low defense, in the midfield and on attack, but she has been a fixture at the offensive end since joining Kennebunk’s varsity as a sophomore.

“The thing that stands out most in my mind is she isn’t selfish,” Barker said. “She passes the ball. She teaches the offense. She’s really a good coach at practice every day.”

Bryant isn’t the first member of her family to head west for a college with a lacrosse program.

Her older sister, Jennifer, played one season at the University of Redlands, a Division III school about an hour’s drive northeast of Los Angeles.

“I wanted to live in California for some part of my life and not (necessarily) establish a job and family out there, so I figured college would be a good time,” Bryant said.

ONE OF the most successful girls’ lacrosse teams in Berwick Academy ended its season on a down note last weekend.

The Bulldogs finished the regular season with a 15-0 record to capture the Eastern Independent League championship and earn the top seed in the A bracket of the prep league’s postseason tournament in Newton, Mass.

Berwick Academy rolled to a 12-7 win over the Dana Hall School of Wellesley, Mass., but the Pingree School of South Hamilton, Mass., eked out a 7-5 win against the Bulldogs in the final.

“It was the best season in school history,” Athletic Director Rob Quinn said.

“We had four one-goal games during that span and we had to come from behind to win in most of them,”

Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

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