In a room full of family and friends on November 13, Dartmouth High School senior Sofia Reardon signed a national letter of intent to play lacrosse at the University of Hartford next year.

The talented team captain said in an interview on the town’s cable network that she has great memories from her time at Dartmouth High.

“I have a lot of good friends and good teammates, and lacrosse-wise, I think that all four years we’ve had a strong connection on our team,” she said. “It’s been really fun.”

Reardon said that her high school team has prepared her well for college sports.

“We definitely are pushed by both each other and our coach every day at practice,” she said.

“The biggest thing about Sofia is just her commitment to lacrosse, her passion for the sport,” said Dartmouth High lacrosse coach Chris Tresca. “Since freshman year, I knew that she had the ‘it’ factor, that determination to want to be better.”

He went on to call the second-year captain “exceptional.”

“I’m just amazed about how she’s constantly motivated herself to become a better player every year. She definitely leads by example...And I think she’s a great role model as well,” he said.

“She’s gonna be a fantastic college player,” he added. “I know that she’s going to leave Hartford better than it was when she entered it, because of her skill set and her passion.”

Reardon said that she’s going to most miss the friendships she’s made along the way.

“Our lacrosse team at the high school is so close-knit, and we’re all really good friends,” she noted. “So I’m definitely going to miss that.”

But Reardon is also looking forward to playing under Hartford coach Meg Decker.

“I love the coach and that’s why I committed there,” she said. “She just makes you feel like you’re at home. She’s a very easy person to talk to. She’s intense without putting too much on you.”

She added that the coach is a “very personable person”.

“I think it’s just that good balance of like a hard, good, tough coach and being very personable and caring,” she said.

Reardon added that she was eager to begin competing at the college level.

“I’m looking forward to playing with the top players in the country,” she said. “Hartford isn’t ranked top, but they are a new program and I think that’s gonna be really cool to be a part of, because I’ll get to be a part of the inaugural years of the program.”

Reardon also isn’t too worried about getting along with her new teammates.

“All of the girls were super nice and super inclusive,” she said of a recent visit to the university. “And I had a really good time. So it kind of made my decision easy.”