High School Girls Lacrosse Player of Year in Bucks County area blends hard work, uncanny skill

It's calm instead of panic and ease instead of anxiousness.

Watch Upper Moreland junior girls' lacrosse player Annalise Messina when she has possession of the ball and it's just different than most anyone else on the field.

"It's like nothing I've ever seen before," UM head coach Kim Frantz said. "It's like the stick is part of her body.

"Everything is just so smooth and effortless and is so fun to watch."

Ah, but to get to the point where an athlete makes it look that way is the hard part.

"Annalise plays the way she plays because she puts in hours and hours and hours of work," Frantz said.

"She's up at 5 in the morning working out, then going to school, then going to practice with us and then practice with her club team. That's how she dominates in games through her hard work."

Girls Lacrosse Coach of Year: See who is our High School Girls' Lacrosse Coach of the Year for Bucks County area

Pennridge boys, girls seeking big wins: Pennridge girls and boys' lacrosse teams vie for PIAA tournament. Why it's a tough climb

That domination has earned Messina the Courier Times/Intelligencer Player of the Year honors.

"She deserves it," Frantz said. "Whoever we play, she just dominates. When we play against the private schools that recruit, she's still the best one out there. Annalise is just fun to watch."

Messina, a Rutgers University commit, finished the season with a team-best 116 goals to go along with 34 assists for a Golden Bears team that went 18-6 and qualified for the PIAA Class 2A tournament for the second straight year.

"This year has been a lot of fun," Messina said. "We lost some really good players from last year, but everybody stepped up and we had some freshmen come in, too, that have really helped us."

What UM also did for the first time in school history this season was win a PIAA tournament game, making it just the second Courier Times/Intelligencer area girls' team to do so (Gwynedd Mercy is the other).

They did it by edging District Two champ Abington Heights 11-9 with Messina, a midfielder, netting seven of the goals. More importantly, three of those goals came when the Golden Bears were clinging to an 8-7 lead in the third quarter.

Elite 10 of girls lacrosse: Check out the 10 players named to All-area Girls Lacrosse first team in Bucks County area

Team of Year overcame the odds: Making school history, this team earns High School Girls' Lacrosse phillyburbs honors

Just like that, it was 11-7 UM and the game was all but over.

"She's the best lacrosse player to come through Upper Moreland," Frantz said. "Kids like her usually don't stay — they go to a private school — but she did and she's only going to keep getting better."

Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com . Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: High School Girls Lacrosse Player of Year in Bucks County area blends hard work, uncanny skill