By Andy Walter

DOVER — The future?

Middle-school kids don’t really think about the future.

Back when she and her friends were just starting as Central Middle School lacrosse players, Kyleigh Dill said they weren’t planning out their high school careers.

“You’re just thinking, ‘Oh, we have a game tomorrow,’” said Dill, now a senior midfielder at Dover High. “‘You’re not thinking about what’s going to happen in high school.’

“I remember we would come to the high school games and watch. We would think the high school girls were so cool. It’s kind of strange to be in their shoes now.”

But, as much as this group of Senator seniors has followed in the footsteps of the players who came before them, they’ve also blazed their own path.

In the last two seasons, Dover is 22-7. That includes a 10-3 record this spring.
Seniors Dill, Superia Clark, Jessenia Carter, Emma Donovan and Jewels Goldman have all been together since their Central Middle School days.

But Clark and Dill aren’t close to being done yet. Both have earned NCAA Division I scholarships — Clark to Syracuse and Dill to Eastern Michigan.

The two good friends said it’s pretty amazing the way this whole thing has turned out.

“It’s so cool seeing us grow up together in this sport,” said Clark. “I’m so happy that we’re going to finish seven or eight years playing lacrosse together in a Dover uniform.”

Even when they were young, Senators coach Molly Phillips said it wasn’t difficult to see that Dill and Clark were talented.

“Once they got to high school, and we saw them play with kids who could throw and catch, they kind of stood out,” said Phillips. “I mean, Superia is probably one of the most athletic kids I’ve coached in any sport. And she’s got speed. She’s hard to catch.

“(Kyleigh) can read the field. She knows the game really well. She’s got a really high lacrosse IQ. She knows what she needs to get done and how she can help her teammates, too.”

Clark and Dill have been two of the program’s main scoring threats for most of their careers. (The pair lost the 2020 season due to the COVID pandemic).

Dill has 153 goals and 42 assists in her career, with 53 goals and 18 assists this spring alone. Clark is right there with her at 143 goals and 26 career assists, including 52 goals and 13 assists this season.

Sophomore Ashtyn Torbert has emerged as one of Dover’s top scorers, too. She has 34 goals and 36 assists this year to give her 63 goals and 53 assists in her first two seasons.

Both honor students, Clark and Dill can remember when colleges first starting recruiting them. It almost didn’t seem real at first.

They used to dream about playing for some highly ranked program.

“It was always in our minds — ‘Oh, I want to go here, or I want to go there,’” said Clark, who is the niece of former Delaware basketball standout Tyresa Smith. “But I still think it hasn’t hit me yet that I’m going to be playing in college.

“Every little kid has those big dreams but it’s starting to become a reality.”
“You see all the girls, years before you, go through the recruiting process,” said Dill. “You’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so cool and you look up to those girls.’ When it’s finally your turn, it’s just like, ‘Wow, I worked hard enough to get here.’

“It’s a really rewarding feeling.”

Like a lot of seniors in May, Dill and Clark have one foot in the high school world and one in college.

Both players shed some tears when the Senators held their Senior Night ceremonies. But Dill has already been to her freshman orientation and Clark is making plans to play over the summer with Syracuse’s other incoming freshmen.

It won’t be easy for the two friends being so far apart in college. Clark knows they will do their best to stay in touch and follow each other’s careers.

“Whatever she’s gotten, she’s deserved — 100 percent,” Clark said about Dill. “And she’s still improving. I know she’s going to do great in college.”

“When I found out Superia was going to Syracuse, I was just so proud of her,” said Dill. “And I remember when she heard about me committing. It was just a really emotional feeling. We started in sixth grade together.

“It’s like a really big full-circle moment.”

Before they graduate, though, there’s still things the Senators want to accomplish. For one thing, they’d love to notch the program’s first DIAA state tournament win.

Mostly, they just want to make the season last as long as it can.

“I always say, ‘Any day we’re playing together is a good day,’” said Clark.
Dill and Clark say they’re excited for the next chapter in their lives. It will just be tough closing the book on the current one.

“I love my high school, so I’m going to miss it,” said Clark.

Dill said a family friend asked why she cried so much on Senior Night.

“Of course I’m excited for the future,” she said. “It’s just hard to say goodbye to something you put so much time and love into.”

Sports editor Andy Walter can be reached at 741-8227 or walter@iniusa.org.
Follow on Twitter at @DSNSports.