On Friday night, Rye girls lacrosse steam topped Bronxville 15-5 in a regular season matchup between two of the top teams in their respective classes, with the Garnets coming in as the reigning Section 1 Class C champs and the Broncos likewise coming in after a title year in Class D. 

But the final score wasn’t nearly as important as the reason for the game, as the contest was played to benefit Morgan’s Message, an organization focused on mental health awareness for student-athletes named in honor of Morgan Rodgers, a 22-year-old Duke lacrosse player who committed suicide in 2019 after battling mental health issues.

Caroline Doyle—one of Rye’s Morgan’s Message Ambassadors—said the game was a vital one considering the enormity of the cause. 

“We wanted to play a game that was bigger than just about ourselves,” said Doyle. “We had a game for autism acceptance, so this week our focus was on student-athlete mental health, just because that is a super important issue as well.”

Doyle led the way on the field as well, scoring a game-high five goals to lead the Garnets to their third straight win. Rye got off to a good start, scoring the first three goals of the game in a matter of minutes and never looked back. 

“We know they’re a good team so we had to start strong,” said Doyle. “I think we just rode that early momentum.

At 8-3, Rye has regained its footing after a three-game slide, responding with three straight wins to sit at their current mark.

“It feels good to be on the winning side again, but we never let the losses get to us,” said Doyle. “We’re still confident in our abilities.”

The Garnets have four games left on the schedule and will close out the regular season on May 16 against Suffern. As Rye looks ahead to the postseason, said Doyle, it’s all about remaining focused on the task at hand. 

“There are definitely things we have to work on,” she said but we’re confident we have the ability to compete in the postseason.”