Girls’ Lacrosse Finishes Season Nearly Undefeated
The girls’ varsity lacrosse team have turned heads this year, with an impressive winning record of 16-1, including a final win against Andover. Big Red showcased their potential, maintaining high performances and drive in every game. Exeter’s successes have resulted in many positive take-aways that the team hopes will carry into the future season.
Big Red’s development started during the pre-season over spring break in Florida. This event created friendships and helped the team familiarize themselves with each other’s style of play. Lower Anna Reaman reflected on her experience in Florida, saying, “My favorite moment of the season was probably the Florida trip. This was the first event we had together as a team and we all grew so close.” Reaman added that rooming and playing hours of lacrosse with people she was not particularly close with helped the team bond and really get to know each other. Specifically, Reaman fondly remembered a charity event that the whole team participated in. “A second favorite moment of mine was the Stephen Arkell walk. As a team, we walked this 5k together to help an incredible foundation,” Reaman said. This opportunity was another bonding moment for the team that contributed to their chemistry and overall understanding of one another.
The team’s success on the field can be credited to their strong unity. Senior and aptain Josie Russ described the team’s ability to work as a unit. “This team works so beautifully together, which I think is the main difference this year from last year. Most of the players on the team have now been playing with each other for over a year,” Russ said, commending the team’s improvement. “We know each other’s strengths and can capitalize on them,” she added. The team’s chemistry contributed to their competitive style of play as well. Russ explained that their transitions moving up the field were consistently fluid, that the defense was collected and organized well, and that the offense had “finesse.”
“Moving forward I think we're going to keep pushing each other in practice as hard as we can and learning from each other everyday.”
Prep Bella Hillman echoed Russ and gave insight to the closeness as a team from a younger perspective. “Every member on the team was always supportive, helpful and determined, and that contributed to our unity and success this year,” Hillman said, describing her teammates kindness both on and off the field. “Being one of the younger players on the team, I was learning everyday from my teammates. I could not have asked for a better season because our team was so close-knit,” Hillman said. The team’s positional awareness and understanding of one another showed how connected the team really was.
As Exeter kept rolling their opponents, the team developed into a working machine, churning out victories one-by-one. The team maintained a common “full 50 minutes” mentality in every game, which motivated them to be persistent against stronger teams. In Big Red’s very first game of the season against St. Mark’s, the team realized their strength and capability. Russ said that the game was a highlight of the season, “I had not fully realized all the potential of this team until that game,” she said.
Russ went on to explain the significance of this win, saying that St. Marks is a very strong competitor and that the poor conditions before the game put Exeter in a disheartened mood. “It was a Friday night. Everyone was nervous, the weather was really crappy and we had no fans. Yet we beat St. Marks 12-7 and you would have never known it was our first game of the season,” Russ said.
The team continued to demonstrate their strength in their game against Tabor. In this game, Exeter managed to score three goals in the last 42 seconds of the game to further their lead. Also, in Big Red’s close victory over Nobles, their hard working attitude showed.
Senior and co-captain Jacie Lemos described this close. “It was a very good match up and was a one goal game basically the whole time, so that win was a huge testament to our team's strength mentally and physically,” she said.
Already having a very competitive team at the beginning of the season, Exeter managed to improve greatly as the season progressed. “The team has definitely improved throughout the season. During preseason, it was easily recognized by all of the players that we had a great team filled with a ton of skill,” Reaman said. “Practice after practice and game after game, everyone kept working as hard as they could and they would never stop.” The team always strived to be better, which kept everyone in a competitive mindset and in turn helped the team improve overall.
Next season the team hopes to continue their success and have another winning season. “Moving forward I think we're going to keep pushing each other in practice as hard as we can and learning from each other everyday,” Lemos said.
Although in terms of technique, the team has very little to work on, maintaining their positive mindset is imperative in order to continue their success. Because the of the team’s closeness, however, they are confident that maintaining their competitiveness will not be a challenge.