By Mark Ducharme, The Enterprise (Brockton)

MARSHFIELD, Mass. -- The opportunity to get your “dream job” does not come around every day. Opportunity knocked for Elizabeth Ettridge when the Marshfield native was named head coach of the Marshfield High girls lacrosse program on which she once starred. She was all set to take over the program from former coach Meghan Flanagan when the coronavirus hit and the season was never able to get started.

“It was a dream of mine,” the Bridgewater State University graduate said about getting the Marshfield job. “I had the opportunity to coach at a place that was important to me in my life when I worked as an assistant under Coach Flanagan last season.”

“Obviously, she was a distinguished student-athlete at Marshfield,” MHS athletic director Bill Battis said. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing her on the sidelines in the years to come.” Battis added that Ettridge “has the maturity and the ability to be a good coach. She is fully aware of what it takes.”

Ettridge feels that her time at both Marshfield High and BSU have taught her a great deal.

“I learned a lot as a captain in both my junior and senior years. I learned a lot about team chemistry and being positive,” Ettridge said. “I also learned a lot from my coaches and teammates at Bridgewater State. You learn something each day.”

Ettridge completed her four-year career at Bridgewater State in 2019 as a midfielder and attacker, the same positions she played for the Rams. She scored 67 goals as a junior and 57 as a senior, finishing sixth all-time in the BSU program history with 205 goals scored for the Bears.

The new coach is taking over a team that lost in the state tournament in 2019 to Braintree High in double-overtime and had a lot of young players in the program.

“We had seven or eight seniors in the program” coming into this season, Ettridge said. “I feel bad for the seniors that had their career end the way that it did. It was also tough for the freshmen that were just joining the program.”

Ettridge maintained communications with the players in her program when the coronavirus first struck and remains in touch. She had help from some of her players in talking to the team as things were happening.

“I talked to the seniors on the Google App and informed them what was going on as far as the MIAA decision to cancel the season,” Ettridge said. “I went on another app to talk to the other players and inform them.”

“My four senior captains (Callie Gilmore, Nicole Bergeron, Lexi Dahlquist and Caroline Mackey) who were all three-year players were great,” Ettridge said. “They kept encouraging their teammates to think positive and kept the overall morale high on the team.”

Ettridge is still hopeful, though, that her players might yet get a chance to play together. If Phase 3 in the re-opening of the state brings a positive result, Ettridge may see some of her players get some extra playing time over the summer.

“There is still some hope for this year. I have talked to coaches around the area and we still might be able to play some games in a summer league.”

“I am also a club coach with Laxachusetts and hopefully the girls will get a chance to play. The seniors (from the Class of 2020) are welcome to play in the league if they want to. The games are not until next season, but the preparation for it is during the summer and the fall.”

She is looking forward to a bright future in her hometown as both a coach as well as an educator.

“I am very excited,” Ettridge said. “In addition to coaching I have also been hired as a history teacher (in the school system). I am very fortunate that I have teaching and coaching jobs at Marshfield.”