By Kim J. Harmon

WESTPORT – It may have been a bit anticlimactic on the field, but senior Caitlin Collier became the first female lacrosse player – and second player ever – to score 100 goals in a career.

Caitlin scored six goals down in Westport last Friday, but it was that fifth one that placed her in the same company as Charlie Heinzer (1992-1996) as the only players to score 100 goals. But the goal did not come in a blaze of glory, though. Just like last season, when Caitlyn broke the school scoring record in a loss to Guilford, she reached the 100-goal plateau in a 15-10 loss to the Wreckers.

Still, while she might have had a chance to truly enjoy the accomplishment on the field Friday, Caitlin will get to savor it now.

“I thought it would be nice and cool (to reach 100),” she said, “but it wasn’t the only thing on my mind. I think I was more concerned with winning.”

Caitlin played junior varsity as a freshman and in her first season on varsity, as a sophomore, she started herself off with 15 goals. As a junior in 1999, though, she set the single-season with 59 goals, giving her 74 for her career.

That left her just 26 shy.

A piece of cake.

“There was a little pressure in the beginning of the season,” said Caitlyn, 17, who plans on attending Loyola-Maryland and trying out for the lacrosse team as a walk-on. “I was just hoping to go out there and live up to it.”

If possible, it seems as if Caitlyn has gotten even more automatic and that could be thanks to some different moves she has developed over the past year. A standard move, in particular, is her taking the ball behind the cage, rolling out to her left, crossing in front of the crease and then tossing in a left-handed shot.

“I don’t know, it’s kind of hard to tell (what has changed),” she said. “Some people tell me I have some new stick moves, but I’m just doing what comes naturally.

With three more goals against Hand of Madison on Saturday, five more against Ridgefield on Monday, and six more against Mercy of Middletown on Tuesday, Caitlin now has 115 career goals and is just six shy of Heinzer’s all-time record of 121.

And then, after she passes that, she can sit back and smile a little at the prospect that her teammate, Sarah O’Sullivan (now with 80 career goals), could possibly join her and Charlie in the 100 club.