5 years after Bellefonte’s girls lacrosse program started, it has its first 100 goal-scorer
It’s a moment that Molly McKee waited for during her entire high school career.
The Bellefonte girls lacrosse star joined the program in 2019 with her father, Doug, leading her as the head coach. After dealing with the loss of her sophomore season due to the pandemic and carving her way through the turmoil of revving back up after a lost 2020 season, she excelled during her 2021 junior season.
As a senior — in her team’s third game of the year, in a rainy affair against Selinsgrove at her home turf of Rogers Stadium on Tuesday — she scored her 100th career goal. She ran into the arms of her teammates, taking a deep breath with a large smile on her face after hitting the mark.
“It means a lot to me, not even personally, but for the program,” she said. “It feels really good to show a goal for everyone to work for and that Bellefonte has something to work for.”
Her teammate, Elle Macafee, has been right by her side from her first day picking up a lacrosse stick. The “dynamic duo,” as their teammates call them, are inseparable friends. Following McKee’s goal, Macafee ran over to give her a big hug and watched as she was honored for achievement. Macafee, who is usually the one who assists her friend on her goals, also had seven goals to McKee’s five on the night in the 17-11 victory.
There was a little friendly banter about that, too.
“The fact that she is No. 1 in goals is crazy,” Macafee said. “She’s just amazing. She’s just incredible. I don’t typically score a lot, but I like to go behind the goal and pass it. I’m probably closer to 100 assists than I am to goals.”
For Doug McKee, watching his younger daughter become the top goal-scorer at Bellefonte has been a dream come true and something that took years of dedication to build.
“We kept it (the varsity lacrosse program) going because we were starting a middle school team to come up and Molly has led our team in scoring since she was a freshman,” he said. “It’s extra exciting for her to reach this milestone because she did it in less than three years because we lost a whole COVID year.”
Doug McKee supported her from the very beginning of her lacrosse career as a fourth grader. As he continued to watch her compete with teams based out of State College, he wondered where she and his oldest daughter, Jillian, would play in high school. Molly McKee pleaded with him: “Dad, I really want to play for my own school.”
So, Doug McKee stepped in and created a lacrosse program at Bellefonte in 2017.
“It’s hard, but it’s one of the best gifts that I could’ve asked for because he is my dad and a coach together,” Molly McKee said. “It’s hard, but it’s really great to have my dad as my biggest supporter as a coach and as a dad.”
Bellefonte is 3-0 on the season and will go on the road to face off against Indiana (Pa.) on Friday.
