Sisters Riann and Kennedy Daziel were two of the finest athletes produced by the strong Pinkerton Academy girls’ lacrosse program in recent years. And the siblings also got to play for their dad, Rob, in the process.
Both young women have moved on to collegiate lacrosse and have gotten themselves noticed on that higher competitive level for their skills in their favorite sport.
Riann went far from home to pursue her dreams of a collegiate lax career, and this spring she completed a superb junior season on the University of Mount Olive Lady Trojans’ lacrosse squad in Mount Olive, N.C.
Meanwhile, closer to home at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, Riann’s younger sister Kennedy, in her freshman lacrosse campaign, earned Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year honors.
The Daziel girls have lacrosse literally in their genes as dad, Rob – the veteran girls’ varsity lax coach at Pinkerton who also coached his girls in youth lacrosse – was the first All-American lacrosse player in Londonderry High School history in the early 1980s. He later went on to play the sport at New England College in Henniker.
“Both girls have given so much of themselves to lacrosse,” said Rob. “But the game has given so much back to them, affording them great opportunities at the college level.”
After netting goals by the dozen during her PA lax career, Riann Daziel made an immediate impact for the Mount Olive squad during her freshman year of 2012-13.
The elder Daziel played in all 16 of her Division II team’s matches – starting 15 of them – and tallied 44 goals and dished out 11 assists to finish up with 55 total points.
And there wasn’t any sophomore slump for the local woman during the 2013-14 campaign, as she potted 37 goals, assisted on seven others, and ended up with a total of 44 points. She played in all 18 of the Lady Trojans matches, starting all but one of them.
And the Derry resident, who is pursuing a human resources degree at the North Carolina school, hit the heights during her 2014-15 campaign this year, registering a career-high 57 goals (best on the team), 11 assists, and 68 points (second on the squad) in 18 matches. She started 16 of those.
Daziel helped lead her 15-3 team to the Conference Carolinas championship by potting two goals and setting up two markers in the title match.
The talented junior assisted on the winning goal in that contest, which went to double-overtime.
Back in the Granite State, Kennedy did some vital work right off the bat for coach Kate Mullen’s 2014-15 SNHU squad.
The team finished with an 8-7 record, and freshman Daziel stepped up and finished third on the team in goals with 24. She also collected five assists for a total of 29 points, and wound up being named the conference Rookie of the Year and an All-Rookie Team member in the Northeast-10.
The younger Daziel started all 15 of the Lady Penmen’s contests, and scored in 13 of those.
Along with her impressive offensive numbers, Kennedy registered 32 ground balls, 17 caused turnovers, and 11 draw controls. Her best individual match where production was concerned came in a battle with Assumption College in which the former Pinkerton scoring machine potted three goals and assisted on one other.
Kennedy, who racked up 201 goals and 96 assists during her high school career at Pinkerton, is pursuing a business administration degree at the Manchester university.
