Park’s girls lacrosse team went face-to-face with the Wildcats at Waconia High School Stadium April 30, winning 14-7. This game not only broke their previous three-game losing streak, but also gave senior Ailish Fitzpatrick her 100th career goal.
Senior and captain Ashley Berry said this game was a welcome change of pace from the past few games, with everyone working together to win.
“We picked it up. Last game, we had a tough week, we just weren’t playing together, but we brought it together in this game,” Berry said.
Sophomore Andrina Meyer said regardless of score, the team kept spirit and intensity high, not giving up on the game.
“We were able to work together well as a team and pull it together whenever we were getting down or losing,” Meyer said.
Head coach Kate Pearson said although the team played well through the second half—even getting personal bests—the energy was low towards the beginning.
“We started off a little bit slow and flat, but then we figured out what we needed to do to pick it up towards the end,” Pearson said. “Our goalie (Savannah Davis) had the best game she’s had, and has been practicing a bunch of things that she put into the game today.”
Berry said despite the team’s win in this game, they need to continue to work on staying calm on the field, and take the lessons from past games into future ones.
“We need to know when to slow ourselves down and not be so frantic,” Berry said. “We need to have a ‘goldfish memory’—forgetting about the last game, but keeping your head in it to improve in the future.”
Meyer said paying attention to everything happening on the field and keeping speed and effort up can make their next games even better.
“We should continue to practice seeing the ball and seeing girls at the same time, watching cutters and being efficient and fast,” Meyer said. “We can improve on our passes and our settling, and we can also run a bunch of our plays.”
Pearson said the team’s initial drive on the field needs to be higher if they want to continue this winning streak.
“Our team needs to come out stronger from the very beginning and not start out flat, expecting good things to happen. They need to know that they have to go get it,” Pearson said.
Berry said this year has been a lot more about connecting with each other and using these relationships to better the team’s play and spirit.
“We’re a lot better at working together and really supporting each other,” Berry said. “We help each other with our weaknesses and really see each other’s strengths this year.”
Meyer said the team’s ability to bond with each other and work together has made a big impact on the quality of the game.
“We’ve worked well together as a team. We’ve been able to mesh well together and use teamwork and bond with each other this season,” Meyer said.
Pearson said the only way to continue to play well is to continue working together and starting the game out strong.
“As a team, we just have to remember that we’re working together, and everyone has to be up and excited and want to go get the ball from the beginning, not have to pick that up in the very end,” Pearson said.
Park’s next game is against Chaska at 5:15 p.m. May 6 at home.
