Last fall, the leading scorer in field hockey, Paige Cornelius, came from New Albany, Ohio. Now, go about 100 miles southwest, you find Springboro, Ohio. That’s where Caroline Ling has played some remarkable lacrosse during her career. For the second straight season, she is your national scoring champion for girls’ scholastic lacrosse.
Ling, headed to Rutgers this fall, had 188 goals during the 2024 season. It was the third-highest single-season total of all time, and she broke the national record for goals scored in a four-year varsity career this past spring, winding up with 561.
An attacking midfielder, Ling paced Springboro deep into the 2024 OHSAA state tournament. It took an extraordinary effort from Cincinnati Walnut Hills (Ohio) and a last-second goal to oust the Eagles from the state tournament and end a remarkable scholastic lacrosse career.
If there is one interesting pattern when it comes to Ling and her outputs the last two seasons, she has become the fourth scholastic player to repeat as national scoring leader in just the last 10 years, following on Fran Frieri (2021-22), Charlie Rudy (2017-18), and Sophia Turchetta (2014-15).
Ling joins a list of girls’ lacrosse scoring champions from seasons past:
2024: Caroline Ling, Springboro (Ohio), 188
2023: Caroline Ling, Springboro (Ohio), 167
2022: Fran Frieri, Lockport (Ill.) Township, 200
2021: Fran Frieri, Lockport (Ill.) Township, 191
2020: No award because of global pandemic
2019: Brittany Sherrod, Versailles Woodford County (Ky.) 158
2018: Charlie Rudy, Novato (Calif.), 147
2017: Charlie Rudy, Novato (Calif.), 160
2016: Bridget Ruskey, Cape May Courthouse Middle Township (N.J.), 135
2015: Sophia Turchetta, Harvard Bromfield (Mass.), 158
2014: Sophia Turchetta, Harvard Bromfield (Mass.), 170
2013: Daniela McMahon, Saddle River Country Day School (N.J.), 143
2012: Emma Lazaroff, Lafayette Centaurus (Colo.), 143
2011: Alex Moore, Allentown (N.J.), 148
2010: Autumn MacMillin, Tecumseh (Mich.), 157
2009: Katie Ferris, Carthage (N.Y.), 138
2008: Courtney Miller, Chappaqua Horace Greeley (N.Y.) 125
2007: Mallori Selliger, Clarkstown (N.Y.) North, 88
2006: Shannon Smith, West Babylon (N.Y.) 129