Shore Strikes at Pike
Sunny, but not too hot is the perfect environment for a sports event like we witnessed at Pike. We continue to push these athletes to play the game of lacrosse the way the game can (and should) be played - a game where connections are made continuously from player to player. With this in mind, this week, we had the benefit of 3 straight days of practice to put this into our tactics. Additionally, for defense, we needed to learn to trust, learn to communicate even if/when it felt uncomfortable (example: who has ball, who might have 2 players, who is the help, etc). Our goal on settled attack was to create “lanes” for attackers to take the ball to the goal, and make those assists.
We already played PIke and won. But, its always the rematch that worries the coach especially when you beat one team recently on your home field. When you then have to go to THEIR home field, you can feel it... revenge. I reminded the girls that this Pike team was probably super pumped for payback. They were fired up (all 31 of them). What did that mean to our team? Our fire had to burn brighter than Pike’s fire in order to pull off a win.
The beginning was like a raging bonfire - both teams on fire. Lots of turnovers, and some misfires, we took a quick timeout to strategize on PIke’s defense style, (and, a quick reminder to our team to please stop playing catch with the Pike goalie), we ended at the half 7-1!
What a game because it was all flame, no smoke with this team for the ENTIRE game. The end score was 13-3. But what was most impressive was this stat: 70% of our goals came from assists. 9 out of the 13 goals were ASSISTED. That means - they were unselfish, clever, and strategic once we realized our game plan against a high pressure defense. We had to draw and dump. This is a common term in girls/women’s lacrosse. "It serves as the 'bread and butter' for winning lacrosse games (someone once said).
There were: 8 goal scorers in this game
There were 9 assists completed by 7 players
We had 4 saves by Izzy, who was in net for the first half. (“Iz the Wiz”)
Then, we had 3 saves by Lainey (including an interception). ("Insane Lane")
24 CAUSED turnovers!
What a team effort.
-Coach Weze and Coach McNall
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