The Lacrosse Player
Tess McEvoy
Senior, Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School
The girls’ lacrosse team at Georgetown Visitation was playing top-ranked St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes in April 2012. Georgetown was down by multiple goals as the game drew to a close.
That’s when Tess McEvoy stepped up her game, forcing a turnover that changed the momentum.
It “was a huge play she made in the last, critical minutes of the game, and while it doesn’t highlight her goals or her stats, it shows her character,” coach Aubrey Andre says. “There was no way she was going to let the other team take the lead and run with it. That determination, that no-quit attitude, is who Tess is.”
Visitation dealt St. Stephens/St. Agnes its first league loss since 1995 that day. And the now-18-year-old from Bethesda went on to finish the season with 64 goals and 16 assists, netting her first-team All-Met honors from The Washington Post and a spot on Yale’s lacrosse team next year. Tess was also ESPN’s Regional Player of the Week in April 2012 and a U.S. Lacrosse Girls’ High School All-American.
“Everyone knows when Tess is on the field,” Andre says. “She’s also just a natural leader. Her teammates want to play like her, want to compete against her, want to learn from her.”
Tess, captain of the school’s field hockey team last fall and of the lacrosse team this spring, also sings and plays piano. In addition, Tess is “a teacher’s dream come true,” showing up fully prepared for every class, says Eve Grimaldi, dean of students for Georgetown Visitation. The teen has maintained first honors, or straight A’s, during her junior and senior years despite a schedule full of honors and Advanced Placement courses.
Tess hopes to study in Yale’s Program on Ethics, Politics and Economics in the fall. She has always been interested in entrepreneurship thanks to her mom, Therese McNerney, who founded Precision Health & Fitness in Bethesda. And a summer job working at an Estée Lauder counter sparked Tess’ interest in marketing and sales. But she says she plans to remain open-minded about the future.
“I play midfield in lacrosse, and I like it because I get to do everything—I’m fast, so I like offense, but I like to be on the defensive end, as well,” Tess says. “That’s kind of how I am in general.
“I like to try everything and be involved in everything, and I strive to be the best I can be at everything.”—Amy Reinink
