Girls' Lacrosse Beats Brewster, Winning Streak Hits Three

Girls’ lacrosse pushed past Brewster 10-8 yesterday, putting their season record at 5-7. After a slow start that had them down 4-3 at halftime, Exeter tied the game at six late in the third quarter. A fatigued Brewster defense could not keep up with an energized and driven Exeter offense, and the Big Red team scored four early goals in the fourth quarter. They continued to keep the ball in their offensive zone, sealing another win for Exeter girls’ lacrosse: their fifth in their past six games.“I think we had a bit of a slow start, but we really stepped it up at the end of the game and started playing really well together,” senior Molly Shanahan said.Senior co-captain Carlin Zia attributed this turnaround performance to a key timeout taken in the second quarter by head coach Christina Breen.“Coach Breen’s pep talk really helped us turn the game around,” Zia said. “She basically told us that we’re not the team that started off the season slow by coming into games late anymore.”Half of Exeter’s goals came from upper Leo Liautaud. Zia applauded Liautaud’s effort.“Leo played great, she shot really well, and even though they had a very strong keeper,” Zia said. “Leo was moving really well, and her confidence was up. Also, she had composure to not shoot when she didn’t have the angle.”“Leo had a lot of really great cuts in front of the net and was keeping her head up,” Shanahan added.Liautaud credited her strong offensive performance to her teammates. “The offense settled the ball really well, which is great because when we rush it too much we make risky passes,” she said. “There was just a lot of cutting and movement around the goal. Their defense couldn’t keep up with is. Also, we worked together to create space to let us have a chance to shoot.”When one looks back on this year’s girls’ lacrosse season, one can’t help but think about coach Breen’s words, when she said that they were no longer “that same team” anymore. After starting off the season 0-6, Big Red now owns a three game winning streak. The team looks rejuvenated and appears as if they have found new reason to play the game they all love so much.“It feels really good [to be winning],” Zia said. “Even the one loss was against Brooks, a one-goal loss, was a great game; we lost to that same team by ten last year. We’re rolling and feeling really good. It’s nice that everything is clicking now. All the little things that we have been working on in practice are coming together.”Exeter faces Deerfield this Saturday in what is set to be one of the toughest games of the season. Last year, this team fell to Deerfield 13-20, but the recent success of the squad has their hopes high.“Deerfield is always a really strong team, and we know it will be a big test on Saturday,” Zia said. “But, we’re viewing ourselves as the dark horse this season. Other teams won’t expect us to be as good as we are, and on paper we’re not really a threat, but I think we’ve got a great shot this weekend.”