Whether it was field hockey in the fall, basketball or swimming in the winter, or lacrosse in the spring, Maggie Cella only had two gears in high school: fast and faster.
So why stop now?
Now that she has graduated from Holy Spirit High School, Absecon, Cella plans to play not one, but two sports in college. The smart money says she will excel in both, as well as in the classroom, where she was an honors student throughout high school.
“From playing three sports in high school, my time management is pretty good,” Cella said with a smile.
This fall, Cella will be attending Cabrini University in Radnor, Pa., where she will immediately join the Cavaliers on the field hockey team under coach Jackie Neary. Neary is also the women’s lacrosse coach at Cabrini in the spring, and she convinced Cella there was a spot for her on both teams.
“I said, ‘You know what? I love field hockey, but I’m not ready to give up lacrosse. So let’s try both,” Cella said.
She led Holy Spirit in both goals (12) and assists (five) in field hockey during her senior year, as the Spartans went 9-8 in the season. She was a four-year starter who ended up with 23 career goals. In lacrosse, Cella scored 58 goals and 19 assists while stopping a team-best 34 ground balls and 69 draw controls.
“She was our workhorse,” Spartans lacrosse coach Kylie Primeau said. “You tell a girl to go run through a wall, that’s Maggie Cella. Every time there’s a 50-50 ground ball, I know she’s getting that ball. As a coach, that’s one thing that’s huge for me. Work ethic and determination. Her determination and speed is like no one I’ve seen. We’ll miss her for sure, but we’re excited for her future endeavors.”
Cella will be studying exercise science while playing two sports at Cabrini University, which might not come as a surprise with her seemingly endless supply of energy. It was one of the attributes that made Cella a leader in both lacrosse and field hockey.
“Whether it’s getting the ball in transition, controlling the attack, helping the defense move, she’s going to be in there,” Primeau said.
She also helped mold a team that came from humble beginnings. In Cella’s freshman lacrosse year, the Spartans struggled and went 6-11.
“Freshman year wasn’t the way we wanted it to play out, even though we had a good team,” Cella said. “Our coach left. Sophomore year, we didn’t get to play [because of COVID-19], then last year we said we wanted to rebuild this program. Now look at us. We made it.”
The Spartans set a new school record with 16 wins in a season and went further than any Spartans’ lacrosse team had ever ventured, making an appearance in the Non-Public B State Championship game, coming up just shy in a 17-11 loss to powerful Princeton Day.
Cella and the senior class left its mark on a program that has goals of ascending even further.
“I thanked Maggie and the rest of my seniors because they were my core squad,” Primeau said. “They helped lead this legacy and build this program.”
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