On March 28, the Aragon varsity girls lacrosse team (2-4 overall) faced a difficult game against the Notre Dame Regents (5-2 overall), which ended in a 10-5 loss. Hitting the halfway point of the season, the Dons had an uphill battle, ranking fourth out of six teams after their drop to the Alpine Division of the West Bay Athletic League.
With two wins under their belt, the team has been challenging themselves with new strategies since the beginning of their season. Playing two to three games a week, the Dons have been working hard on recuperating after their drop from the Skyline League and have played various new opponents to rebuild their ambition on the field.
“We’re starting off a lot stronger than we have in past seasons,” said senior Audrey Castiglia. “It’s only the beginning for us.”
Anticipating a challenging game, the team attempted various plays to counter the Regents onslaught but were unable to catch the lead.
“[Notre Dame] is at a pretty similar skill level as us,” Castiglia said. “We need to stay focused and do our best.”
Notre Dame took initiative in the first quarter, scoring three goals whilst Aragon pushed momentum and stayed in heavy pursuit. The Dons stayed steadfast in their resolve, subbing out new players and countering with various strategies, closing the quarter losing 3-0.
“We just need to play to our strengths,” said junior Hannah Qutteineh. “And make sure that we cover our defense well.”
Although the Dons returned rejuvenated onto the field, the second quarter proved to be difficult for both teams in safely advancing their positions. Ramping up tensions, the Dons regrouped to score a goal in the first three minutes and the Regents countered with two more at the halfway mark.
“One of our strategies was to assign our strongest defender towards their best player to make sure they don’t keep scoring goals,” Quitteineh said. “We want to try to keep an advantage.”
The approach was successful, as Notre Dame followed up with a goal and the Dons pursued, reaching halftime with 6-3 box score.
“We practiced a lot of double-teaming and doubling the ball,” Castiglia said. “We’re definitely still learning, but we’re getting a lot better at it.”
At the beginning of the third quarter, the teams recalculated and approached one another with increased tenacity on the field, with the ball lobbying both sides with unsuccessful goals. The Regents worked on maintaining their position while Aragon pushed to even the score.
“One of our weaknesses is that in a difficult situation, our defense gets a little bit freaked out,” Quitteineh said. “It messes up our game when we falter like that.”
Despite several offensive plays by the Dons and repeated formations from Notre Dame, Aragon was unable to restructure and the Regents continued with an additional three goals. At the end of the third quarter, the scoreboard read 9-4.
As the fourth quarter began, the Dons fought with renewed vigor and redoubled their efforts, advancing two goals and holding their defense as a counter to Notre Dame’s plays. With four minutes left on the clock, the Regents pushed through with their lead and scored another goal, holding their defense against the Dons till the end.
“Our strengths have us communicating really well,” Castiglia said. “One of our weaknesses that goes off of that is that we have a lot of fun and tend to get distracted — we need to be more focused.”
Although they faced their fourth loss of the season, the Dons are focusing on improving their play by working together and staying persistent till the end. The girls lacrosse team’s next game will be away on April 26 at Monte Vista at 11 a.m.
