Varsity and JV girls’ lacrosse kicked off their spring seasons strong, getting the swing of game play through skill practice, pre-season scrimmages and their first games.
Tryouts took place Mar. 1 through 6. Since then, the newly formed teams have been preparing, improving and working hard for their competition season with intense practices focusing on stick work and speed.
On Mar. 21, the teams played their first games against rival Winston Churchill at home. A rivalry game is always a heated and lively game, especially as the season opener. The varsity team came well-prepared and fierce, ready to take on the Bulldogs. After an upsetting 8-5 loss, the girls bounced back hard and brought home a win against John F. Kennedy on Mar. 24 16-2.
With almost their whole team present, a rare occurrence, the girls played well and with sportsmanship. Kennedy has a fairly new program and players of less experience compared to the Patriots. Team members were shown new opportunities during the game, such as senior Katie Reed playing in goal for the first time, junior Jenny Brailovsky scoring from defense and freshman Noelle Davis-Astrada scoring in her first varsity game. “I think it was a really successful game,” varsity coach Shannon Davis said.
While the team continued to ride the high of their win against Kennedy, they faced a tough game against Damascus on Mar. 26, ending in a 15-3 loss. Davis said she believes that Damascus is one of the best teams in the county and will go far with two D1 commits on their team, making for a tough opponent. The game stayed close as halftime approached with a score of 6-3, but Damascus never let up, keeping their strongest players in for the majority of the game. “It was rough, but it was a learning experience,” senior Paige Euler said.
The Patriots fought hard until the end. Junior Maya Bellamy stood out with her powerful plays and goal, even while recovering from sickness. Juniors Addison Purvis and Emory Scofield were the two other scorers during the intense game. Davis gave credit to defense, the bright spot of the game in her opinion, and goalie Sarah Podbersky, who impressively withstood challenging shots from Damascus.
As for the JV players, they experienced a tough game against Churchill as well, falling to the Bulldogs 10-4. As a portion of the JV players are still learning the ropes of the sport, the girls played well, keeping up with the Churchill JV girls’ team’s speed and talent.
Since then, new coach Miranda Custer implemented more running and game-like drills into their practices, which was, potentially, one of the leading factors to their huge success in their win against Clarksburg 11-0 on Mar. 28. “We had previous experience beating Clarksburg’s team and knew that they were a little less experienced than us, but it was still very rewarding to score and contribute to the win,” freshman Amelia Crespen said.
Catch the teams at their next games today at home against Montgomery Blair.
