Lucy Connors understands the importance of loss — so long as it can be used to strengthen things like resolve and understanding, both of which she has far more than her age would let on.

The recent Mead High School graduate reflected on her girls lacrosse career with the Mavericks in the late morning Wednesday. It’s one that impressed all four years and got better with age.

As a senior this past spring, Connors was the state’s top scorer with 113 of her 241 career goals. She was Colorado’s leader in points (146), ground balls (128) and draw percentage (2.283%), which was also second-best in the nation.

“I would say overall she’s just really well-rounded,” Mead’s first-year coach, Rachel Class, said of Connors, the BoCoPreps.com girls lacrosse player of the year for a second straight season.

“I mean, we had her on the draw circle and she’s winning the majority of draws. On defense, she would make some good stops. And on offense, she’s a great goal scorer.”

And while the 2025 spring season didn’t end as good as two years ago for the Mavericks (when they won the 4A title in their first year as a varsity program) and didn’t go as deep as even last year (they followed up their 2024 loss in the finals with a semifinals exit), it’s a high school farewell Connors can appreciate.

It started slow. A younger, more inexperienced roster than the previous two seasons, the Mavericks lost twice in their first three games of the season, falling by double digits to both California’s San Marcos and La Costa Canyon.

By mid-April, they’d move back to a respectable 7-4. (Though, that paled in comparison to the previous two seasons, where they lost just four times in total.)

Connors said it wasn’t until they were amid an April 14 loss to Battle Mountain when they turned the corner. Trailing big at halftime against the Huskies, the Mavericks raced all the way back to force overtime before eventually losing, 15-14. It wasn’t the perfect end but it served as a springboard for a six-game win streak that put them back in the title hunt.

“No one was expecting us to go this far,” Connors said. “But I really think the part of the team that got us as far as we did was our grit. Our coaches said it all along, ‘We have a group of girls who just don’t quit.’”

In August, Connors is headed to Bucknell University. The plan is to major in biochemistry and cell biology, while minoring in computer science. Understandably, she likes her chances to land a good career out of those fields.

For the school’s women’s lacrosse team, she’ll bring to it a well-rounded skillset as well as her unquestioned leadership. The Bison will be looking for their first winning record since 2017.