Read about some of the St. Louis area's top high school girls lacrosse players as the season gets under way.
Bailey Boulay is arguably the most decorated player in the storied history of Eureka High girls lacrosse.
Bailey Boulay, Eureka
But she’d trade all the gaudy stats, all the accolades for one thing — a state championship.
“Yes, for sure,” said Boulay, now a senior at Eureka. “That feeling with all my teammates, I just can’t even imagine what it would feel like to win that championship game. I couldn't care less about how many goals I score if everyone else is scoring and we just win that game.”
Through her first three seasons, Boulay already ranks first on the all-time Eureka girls lacrosse leaderboard in career goals (134), assists (72) and points (206).
“It’s definitely been really cool, but I wouldn’t say it’s just all individual,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to score half my goals and I would have no assists without my teammates. But it has definitely been cool to see all my hard work paying off and getting rewarded.”
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But the Wildcats have yet to hoist the Missouri Scholastic Lacrosse Association first-place trophy, though they have come tantalizingly close.
Eureka fell to MICDS 7-2 and John Burroughs 8-4, respectively, in the last two MSLA championship games.
“It definitely motivates us and shows all the other schools what we’re capable of. We’re not just another public school,” Boulay said. “We have a target on our back. Everyone’s gonna be coming for us, wanting to beat us. The people that were on that team last year just want it even more this year.”
Eureka graduated seven players from last year’s squad, but coach Melissa Menchella said the Wildcats are still a hungry bunch this season.
“There’s no saying we’ll get back there this year, but the dream is there and the goal is there. We have a lot to work out this year, so I have no idea what it’s gonna be like, but the goal and desire is there,” Menchella said. “We haven’t played any games yet, but the freshmen and sophomores are really stepping up and filling some gaps that I didn’t anticipate, so we’re excited to see how we play together.”
Menchella will get the chance to get the Wildcats back into the title game with one of the area’s top players in Boulay.
It was Menchella’s all-time Eureka points total (186) that Boulay broke late last season and now she will have a chance to break her coach’s school goals scored mark (156) as well this season, something Menchella is definitely OK with.
“Records are great, but to see somebody that I know so well break my record is a really cool feeling. I know how much work’s she put in and how much she cares about the sport,” Menchella said. “To my knowledge, we’ve only had three freshmen make our varsity team at Eureka. Obviously, there’s something special about getting to work with a kid four years straight and it’s gonna be hard to know it’s our last year together. It’s been quite a ride.”
After graduation in a couple months, Boulay will move on to play college lacrosse at Maryville University.
“I just love the whole campus and it being close to home was definitely a plus,” she said. “I definitely just connected with the coaches right away and loved their style of play.”
But before then, Boulay is gonna do everything she can to try one more time to lead her team to that elusive title this season, which is scheduled to get underway Thursday against Pattonville.
A multi-sport athlete, Boulay was the Suburban Conference Yellow Pool's girls basketball player of the year this winter and helped the Wildcats reach the Class 6 final four as a junior.
“It’s kind of crazy this will be my last season. These years have just kind of flown by. Sometimes, I still feel like I’m just a freshman,” she said. “I’m so excited to see how we all come together our first game. Every year, the team is different, so it’s gonna be interesting. I have high hopes for this team.”
