As a pioneer of district lacrosse, Dave Palcho is happy when a local player has a chance to compete at the next level.

The joy has to be quadrupled for Palcho when four of those players heading to a Division I lacrosse program next year are from his team.

Upper St. Clair, the No. 1-ranked girls' team in the WPIAL through 13 games, according to laxpower.com, features four starters who are headed to college next year to play lacrosse. Meredith Cain (University of Pennsylvania), Sarah Fletcher (Virginia Tech), Rachel Engel (Robert Morris) and goalkeeper Jessie Melby (Davidson) have helped lead the Panthers to an 8-4-1 overall record and 5-1 mark in Division 1, Section 1.

Engel, a four-year starter and captain, plays up top as an attacker and Cain, who has lettered all four years, is an attacking wing. Fletcher has been playing center for the past three seasons and Melby has started in goal the past three seasons after volunteering to take over the position her sophomore year.

"Our goalie graduated the year before and I just sort of said 'Who wants to play goalie?' and Jessie stepped up and said 'I'll give that a try' and she has not left the cage since," Palcho said.

"Every single rule in the book is geared toward offensive advantage and it is incredible how the game focuses on offense. It amazes me that anybody would want to be a goalie in any sport, especially lacrosse. There are girls with incredibly strong shots and I am just filled with respect and admiration for them to get in that 6-by-6 [foot] cage."

Engle, Cain and Melby are the team's tri-captains.

Along with Engel, the other attackers are Sammy Teel, a first-year starter, and Sami Pollak, who joined the team last season after transferring into the district from New York.

Three-year starter Lane Lohman starts in the midfield with Cain. Senior Taylor Montgomery and junior Amy Anderson are both experienced defensive midfielders and a trio of seniors, Bria Larkin, Maeve Klutch and Jenny Wehen, make up the defense.

Upper St. Clair started the season 7-2 before taking a weekend trip to Ohio to play some of the best competition in the Buckeye State. Palcho welcomes the tough competition for his team. When his team competes in out-of-state tournaments, he asks the organizer to schedule the Panthers against the top teams in the tournament.

"Our girls go out and we hang in there, we are in the game," Palcho said. "The girls realize this is the way the game can be played. You really don't ever gain anything playing a weak team. We try to play the top three teams [in a tournament]."

On the recent trip to Ohio, Upper St. Clair lost to Medina, 16-9, and Stow-Munroe Falls, 11-9, and forged a 9-9 tie with Hudson.

"They wish that they had done better in Ohio but they understand the reason why we go there," Palcho said. "They are really pumped up to finish out the season strong."

Against WPIAL competition, the Panthers have won key games against Franklin Regional, 17-15, whom they are scheduled to play again today, and Peters Township, 13-9, the team that has ended the last two Upper St. Clair seasons in the WPIAL semifinals.

Upper St. Clair's lone section loss was to Mt. Lebanon, 13-7, whom they trail in the section standings by one game.

Palcho has been involved with lacrosse ever since attending Villanova University in the early 1960s. On a whim he joined his freshman roommate to play a game of lacrosse, a game he had never heard of up until that point. Since that first game of lacrosse 49 years ago, Palcho estimates that he has spent significant time on a lacrosse field in 45 of those years.

He started the first boys' lacrosse program at Upper St. Clair in the early '70s, back when only three local teams competed (Shady Side Academy and Sewickley Academy were the other two). He also coached lacrosse at Mt. Lebanon for 15 years until 2000 when he took over the Upper St. Clair job.

"More and more athletic girls are starting to say 'Hey, it's OK to play lacrosse,'" Palcho said.

"We have a great group of kids who just love this game and don't miss practice. They are incredibly dedicated and very coachable."