Girls’ Lacrosse Pulls off Overtime Victory
Through pelting snow and a three-hour drive, Big Reds girls’ lacrosse team reeled in their first victory of the season Saturday, beating Choate 12-10 in overtime. Everyone on the team contributed to the win. Senior Walker Foehl, upper Bronwyn Shields and lowers Kelsey Detels and Hannah Gustafson all scored a goal. Along with the four, senior and co-captain Elsa Chinburg and prep Michaella McCarthy scored two goals each, while senior and co-captain Marley Jenkins scored four.
The game against Choate, however, was not the first time the team had played together. Hoping to achieve the best season in the program’s history, the team spent the last week of spring break down in Florida for their annual preseason, training and creating positive team dynamics. The team consists of 30 girls this year. Despite their differing personalities, the team has found solace in each other’s idiosyncrasies, and the members have gotten along well so far. Evidently, their team bonding and hard work paid off by the show of their first win.
“We had streaks of momentum and then gave the other team chances to get back in, so I would say we have to work on keeping our intensity up throughout the game and not letting the other team have a chance to get back into the game after we get the lead.”
The game was neck and neck throughout: 5-5 after the first half and 10-10 after the second. Chinburg described the game as “an emotional roller coaster,” with “really good moments as well as some not so good moments.”
Jenkins agreed with Chinburg. Jenkins added that for in the future, the team should work on reducing those weaker moments earlier described by Chinburg.
Jenkins said, “We had streaks of momentum and then gave the other team chances to get back in, so I would say we have to work on keeping our intensity up throughout the game and not letting the other team have a chance to get back into the game after we get the lead.”
The game was upper Allegra Grant’s first real game as a lacrosse goalie. Previously playing as a field hockey and ice hockey goalie, Grant was a natural. Gustafson recalled, “[Grant] must’ve made a save with every part of her body!”
Gustafson also applauded Choate’s goalie’s ability to stop their shots, explaining that to score, Exeter’s shots had to be “fast and accurate.” Choate’s goalie made several key stops and posed as a big obstacle in Big Red’s endeavor to bring home the victory.
In addition, freezing snow plagued the girls’ entire game—all 56 minutes. The weather didn’t stop them though. The team’s ability to fight through the snow impressed Chinburg. She said, “If we can come together as a team in conditions as horrible as yesterday, that's a good sign for the rest of our season.”
Overall, the team pulled it together, scoring twice and dominating in overtime. During overtime, Big Red’s girls managed to keep the ball on Choate’s side for the majority of the period, thereby preventing Choate from scoring any goals and destroying any chance of a Choate victory.
Gustafson attributed the victory to team effort said, “Everyone contributed to the win: from Marley winning the draws to teammates on the sideline screaming ‘look’ which tells everyone on the field to look at Coach Breen for the play.”
Coach Christina Breen praised the girls’ teamwork. “Our new goalie, Allegra Grant, was amazing in the net, and our veteran defense along with many new players gelled well and protected her,” she said.
Still, the team has room to improve, and they plan to do so. Seeing the results of their first game, many team members and Breen have realized the team’s next step: working on the accuracy of their shooting. Breen said, “We have to work on our shot selection. We really dominated that game, but the score does not show it because our shooting was not as accurate as it needed to be.”
By “capitalizing on goal opportunities, and raising the shot to goal percentage,” Gustafson also believes that the team will have even greater successes in the future.
Like all other teams on campus, the squad faces the risk of injury. Each player is crucial to the team however, and the girls are praying that they will have the fortune of minimal injuries.
The girls will play at Thayer Academy on Saturday. It is bound to be a competitive and well-fought game from the beginning to the end, as Exeter only beat Thayer by one goal last year.