After struggling to get their offense running in the second half, the girls lacrosse team (3-6 overall, 1-5 Skyline League) lost to Woodside Priory (9-6 overall, 6-3 SL) with a score of 12-3.
With their star player, senior midfielder Anna Barton, being both an academic and athletic all-American, the Panthers were able to capitalize on their strong face-offs in the second half, scoring three successive points in three minutes.
“They have one of the best players probably in the region who can control the ball,” said head coach Kalyn Olson. “They definitely took advantage of that when they were getting those early possessions on us.”
The Dons attempted to respond to the Panthers’ offense with a focus on defending against Barton. Despite junior attacker Alexia Cabral’s two goals in the first half, the Panthers were quick to respond to Aragon’s changes, allowing only one shot in the entire second half.
“When we were trying to face guard their biggest threat on attack, we left some other girls a little bit more open than we would have intended, and Priory caught on with that,” Olson said.
This eventually came to affect Aragon’s mentality, with Priory doubling their score in the second half from 6-3 to 12-3.
“We got really frustrated and intimidated by their main player,” said junior attacker Mikayla Fahrenbruch. “By that stage, the main point in our strategy was to give up the ball if she was on us.”
Aside from gameplay, a large factor in Aragon’s poor offense was the difference in the setting: Priory’s field is made of grass rather than turf.
“They’re used to the grass,” Olson said. “It’s definitely a different technique of picking up on their field. That is something that we weren’t as prepared for.”
Without control of the ball, frequent drops led to Priory gaining control of 17 ground balls throughout the match, which senior team captain and midfielder Grace Simenc attributes to poor handling of the sticks.
“We need to work on checking up with our sticks, basically holding it closer to the top which gives you more control,” Simenc said. “We also need to work on protecting our sticks because we’ve been getting back checked a lot.”
Despite being locked out of offense the second half, Aragon’s defense was able to hold off Priory to an extent, with freshman goalie Lilly Loghmani and senior goalie Kemya Ortiz making 11 saves total throughout the game. However, the Dons had problems moving the ball back to the other side.
“We had some really great play from our goalkeepers today,” Olson said. “We just couldn’t transition that ball safely enough.”
Simenc attributes the weaker transitions with mobility issues and failing to stay open.
“Our defensive rotation just wasn’t as sharp as I know that we’ve executed before in other game[s]” Simenc said.
On May 3, the Dons bounced back, defeating Sacred Heart Cathedral (5-10 overall, 2-8 SL) 9-7.
