Lady Eleanor Holles lay down marker with SE Schools Finals win

Lady Eleanor Holles claimed a statement win ahead of next month’s National Schools Championships with victory at the prestigious South East Schools Finals tournament in Guildford.

LEH defeated National Schools 2025 finalists St Catherine’s 4-3 in the final of the event, hosted by the South East Women’s Lacrosse Association, which features a number of the leading lacrosse schools in the country.

The 12-team finals at Surrey Sports Park, featuring schools from across Bedfordshire, Bucks, Hertfordshire, Surrey and London, was hotly contested with each side striving to be crowned the top school in the South East.

LEH stormed through the competition with a 100% record, defeating Putney 5-3, Bedford 9-2 and St Albans 5-4 to top their group.

A bye in the Last 16 took them through to a quarter-final against North London Collegiate, winning 2-1, before a another successful rematch against St Albans in the semi-final, 7-2.

Opponents St Catherine’s were also undefeated coming into the final, drawing their opening match with Guildford High 4-4, before wins against Habs 12-0 and Berkhamsted 5-4.

Following a convincing 9-3 win against Bedford in the Last 16 they then repeated their victory over Berkhamsted in the quarter-final 3-2, before receiving a bye to the final.

The final itself was a brilliant back-and-forth contest with St Cat’s going 1-0 up, LEH responding to take a 2-1 lead, before St Cat’s reclaimed their advantage, edging things 3-2 going into half-time.

However, there was only one further swing to come after the break as LEH kept a second-half shut out on the defensive end and hit back with two unanswered goals to become South East Schools champions for 2026 and set themselves up perfectly ahead of March’s National Schools.

LEH last won the top prize at the National Schools Lacrosse Championships back in 2018 with a star-studded team featuring a raft of then future England internationals including Charlie Wilson, Cece Green, Anna Saunter, Georgie Southorn and Hannah Thurston.

Streaming of the matches from across the whole South East Schools tournament, including the final, can be watched back HERE

The 2026 National Schools Lacrosse Championships take place from Saturday 7 to Tuesday 10 March at Aldershot Garrison Sports Centre - Tickets are on general sale now from the advance ticket price of £15 HERE

Nationals branded merchandise is also now available as part of our partnership with Pioneer Lacrosse, featuring a range of customisable clothing to wear at this year’s 2026 Championships - SHOP HERE