As junior captain Ally Feller reflected on the team’s first game, she said it was an excellent chance to get the team acclimated to playing together.

“It was our first game so we didn’t play as well as we could have, but it was a really good learning opportunity. We worked out the kinks of playing. Now, we have a better understanding of what more we need to learn going into the season,” Feller said.

According to coach Liz Bixler, the team improved on working together throughout the game.

“We definitely started off a little slow because it was our first game —first time outside for some people too — but by the end we got our defense down a lot better and we were looking a lot better on offense too,” Bixler said.

Bixler said the players are looking to perfect their throwing, catching, and overall proficiency in other basic ultimate skills.

“I want (the team) to improve skill wise because I feel like we have a lot of new people so this is their first time playing,” Bixler said. “It’s really nice to see people developing their skills and learning how to throw properly and getting better at catching.”

According to Bixler, she wants to train the team through drills designed to improve specific skills.

“Ruda, the other coach, and I have picked out drills that are working on the things we want to focus on. Things like the timing of our cuts and swinging the disc back and forth between the handlers,” Bixler said.

Feller said the team started using small groups called pods during games in order to ensure it has a variety of players on the field at one time.

“Lately, we’ve been doing pods where you’re in a group of two to four people at your level. (This) makes sure that there are enough cutters and handlers on the field and everybody gets the same amount of playing time,” Feller said. “Everybody is happy that they get more playing time.”

According to Bixler, the team has a new strategy it will attempt during its next game.

“We want to try out the new offense that we’ve been working on, a horizontal stack (in our next game),” Bixler said. “That (way) we can get some practice with that in a real game situation.”

The next girls’ ultimate game will be against Cretin-Derham Hall at Park April 23.