“Winning and losing isn’t everything; sometimes, the journey is just as important as the outcome.”
On Friday, Feb. 24 the Maclay girl’s varsity lacrosse team faced Seacoast Collegiate from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. The game was held on Frank Shaw field at Maclay and commenced at 5:00 p.m. In Florida, girl’s varsity lacrosse consists of two 25-minute halves and a seven-minute halftime.
Lacrosse season has just begun for the Marauders, as the girls had a record of 0-1 heading into today’s matchup. Though they put up a good fight and strived for a comeback during the second half, the Marauders were defeated by Seacoast Collegiate. The final score was 9-4.
“I think we were definitely nervous,” head coach Sara VanTassel said. “We showed that we were the new team but I love the aggression, heart and drive to play a good game. You know, we made some silly mistakes that we will fix next time.”
Despite the loss, the Lady Marauders’ four goals were scored by freshman Addy Papuchis (two goals), sophomore Riley Robinton and Kassidy Moninger. Three of the four goals were scored during the second half, as the Marauders were down 8-1 going into halftime.
“I think we did really well,” senior Maddy Meeker said. “We definitely improved a lot from the first half to the second half, especially with our defense. I think we got a lot better.”
Still, VanTassel believes the team can improve by winning more ground balls. Even though the Marauders scored more points than Seacoast Collegiate during the second half, VanTassel explains that getting more shots on cage will lead to a major development.
Additionally, tonight’s game was junior Lawre Bradley May’s first appearance on the Maclay girl’s lacrosse team.
“I didn’t do great,” Bradley said. “[I want to improve] my view of the field, and I’ll work on my defending.”
Meeker also plans to work on staying with her mark as well as crashing.
“I’m definitely still learning a lot [about lacrosse],” Meeker said. “I think I did a lot better this game on learning how to play defense in lacrosse more than soccer [like i’m used to].”
Next up, the Maclay girl’s varsity lacrosse team will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 25. Their first game will be against Navarre at 1:00 p.m, and shortly after, the Lady Marauders will compete against Pensacola Catholic at 5:00 p.m. Both games will be held at Maclay, with the hopes of the Marauders being able to pull out two wins in one day.
