By Taylor Boggs ’16, Sports Section Editor

After finishing a strong 2012-2013 season last spring, the girl’s lacrosse team lost ten out of eleven starting players. The intensity and toughness of switching from an all senior team to a brand new starting lineup proved to be difficult when the team took on their first game this season: losing 20-6. Enduring tedious practices filled with conditioning and endless throwing, ladies lax pulled out a win in their second game. Although the girls have good catching and throwing technique, they still need to learn how to play well under pressure. But most importantly, they need to learn to trust and work well with one another like the ladies on last year’s team knew how to do.

Lacrosse is about observation and prediction: it is essential to always watch the ball and predict what will happen in order for a quick response. Unlike any

other sport, when the whistle is blown during a game, all of the girls have to stop where they are and they are not allowed to move. This allows them to see what is happening on the field and to decide what to do once the game begins again. Being aware of the ball’s position is the most important aspect of the game alongside being able to trust teammates to carry the ball down the field.

Once a player can trust her teammates, the team is more confident and they play better. Even if the player coughs the ball up, the teammates will be there to help. With a confident and open mind the team as a whole plays better, faster, and smarter. The idea that a good attack makes a good defense and a good defense makes a good attack is a great example of the necessity of trust among a team. The more possessions the

attack has, the less the defense has to defend and the more the defense defends, the less the attack has to score to win the game. It is the constant optimism and trust in one another that leads a team to victory.

As a member of ladies lax, I have complete confidence in my team. Not only will we win more games, we will also learn to rely and confide in one another. We will learn how to double team and win possessions. We will learn how to defend the eight meter and be patient when necessary. We will learn to work hard and be victorious