Budding program: Lady's Lacrosse
By: Hannah Press
Posted May 14
It has been a very successful season so far for the Saint Francis Girls Varsity lacrosse team, who looks to win their second straight championship in the SCVAL. As defending champs, they have handled the pressure well, improving their record to 10-4 overall and 10-1 in league play.
The rematch against competitive rival Palo Alto was an extremely important game for the Lancers to prove that they are a top team in the league and continue to be contenders for the league title. The momentum shifted back and forth throughout the whole contest. The Lady Lancers got off to a slow start, but they came back from a four-goal deficit to tie the game at halftime 7-7. In the second half, the Lancers turned the tables and took a four-goal lead with five minutes to go in the game, but Palo Alto was not done. They came back to tie the game with two minutes to go. The Lancers held strong, however, and out-hustled Palo Alto in the last minutes of play to come out on top with a score of 15-13. Another rematch with Palo Alto is possible, but if the Lancers meet their rivals again, it will not be until the SCVAL playoffs.
Head Coach Jessica Paige and Assistant Coach Josephine Lai have been coaching the Lancers since girls Lacrosse began at Saint Francis and have foster a well-respected program. Coach Paige and Coach Lai led the lancers to a second place finish in their first year, and a championship in their second. Despite their success, Coaches Paige and Lai do not plan on slowing down. They stress the importance of teamwork, hard work, and finishing strong as their main goals for the season. Coach Paige frequently sends the team inspirational videos to help motivate the Lancers. This year the coaches have introduced a new way to make practices more competitive yet still fun at the same time. They will often split up the team into two groups that compete against each other in a number of competitions throughout the practice. Every practice that comes the night before a game, the team has a visualization led by Coach Paige. During the visualization, the Lancers imagine the upcoming game in their minds. This way, they can see themselves in the hours leading up to the game and during the game itself. When it comes to game time, the Lancers are always ready to play until the end, to finish strong, and in the words of Coach Paige, to play "Lancer Lacrosse."
As the season has progressed, the Lancers have really come together as a team. Everyone is willing to help out and encourage each other when something is going wrong or a teammate is down. As a result, the team is stronger than ever and ready to defend their championship title.
