Girls' Lacrosse Suffers Defeat to Nobles, Losing Streak Hits Five

Exeter girls’ lacrosse played Noble & Greenough School yesterday, falling a tough 5-18 loss against one of the league’s strongest teams. After suffering their fourth consecutive loss of the season in an emotional match this past Saturday, the team was not ready for the game against a difficult opponent.“They were a very strong team and were the ISL Champions last year,” lower Marley Jenkins said. “Their attack was really good, they were cutting well and got a lot of quick goals and shots.”The game began with the opponents immediately scoring four goals in a row, catching Exeter off-guard and setting the mood for the remainder of the match. At that point, the team struggled to keep up with Noble & Greenough’s girls and eventually fell far behind the other team in terms of scoring and confidence.Throughout the game, the team’s defensive tactics varied, in an attempt to offset Noble & Greenough’s attack line.“We tried a lot of things to counter their attack. In the end, they were a very good team, and we had to switch it up a lot, but they controlled the game for most of the time,” Jenkins said.Big Red experienced difficulty in keeping control of the ball when it was in their possession, resulting in failure to consistently score goals. Often times, it was not because of the other team’s defense, but Exeter’s own struggles in regulating the ball in crucial situations.Despite the rough game, upper Hannah Wellington was able shed light on the loss.“There was one part where we were at a low spot of the game and the energy was really down,” Wellington said, "but Marley really worked hard and got this ground ball right in front of our bench and it just really pumped everybody up. It got our momentum back.”Senior Meghan Turner is hopeful about the remainder of season, and sees room for improvement within the team.“We start getting a little frustrated during games, so I think we need to help pick each other up when we’re not having a great one,” Turner said. “As for the rest of the season I think we just really need to get out of this rut that we’re in.”This year’s team seems to lack the presence of seasoned and experienced seniors to lead them. Most of the current players began playing lacrosse in their prep or lower years, and there is an absence of upperclassmen who have been playing the sport for their whole lives. However, the younger players on the squad bring more experience and hopefully will become stronger in games throughout the remainder of the season.The girls will have a chance to find their footing and break out of their losing streak this Saturday against Milton Academy. “Once we get a win, which is bound to happen since we work our butts off in practice, I think things will work up from there,” Turner said.