NGU women’s lacrosse: a season of growth, grit and rising expectations
Ava Henderson, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Robbie Gawrys
The North Greenville University Women’s Lacrosse team has had a season full of ups and downs. At this point in their season, they have a record of 7-9 but are 5-3 and tied for fourth in conference. Through everything they haven’t given up and are hoping to end the season better than they started.
While they are nearing the end of the regular season, the team still has a lot they would like to accomplish. Their overall goal is to end the season better than the way they started it. They started the season on a five-game losing streak, but they did not let that stop them. Here at the end of the season, they have turned it around and are on a four-game winning streak and are hoping to ride that momentum into the conference tournament.
“We want to end our season out better than we started with a nice win streak going into the conference tournament,” said sophomore midfielder Aubree Mayse.
Having momentum behind them before the conference tournament gets them going in the right direction to win the tournament and possibly play in the national tournament.
More than just ending the season on a positive note, the team wants to win the conference. If they win the conference tournament, their next goal would be to advance as far as possible in the national tournament. They are taking it one game at a time, however, focusing on finishing the season off strong.
Senior attacker Katy Smith said, “We would like to win conference, obviously, but more so do our very best and advance as far as we can.”
By doing these things, the team will be proud of the way they did regardless of if they win a tournament or not.
In order to do their best at these matches, they need to have strong practices. During practice, they start by warming up and doing a few drills. These drills include reps for passes, throws and scoring. They do different defensive drills as well to get practice in on both sides of the ball.
According to head coach Sydney Taylor, “A typical practice looks like working on basics and running through drills of passes and throws before doing a short mock game against each other to get ready for the next game.” T
hese things happen at every practice to give them a good routine and so they know what to expect at each practice.
During practice, they also do a little conditioning to end it. This involves running and doing different dynamic work outs and stretches to keep them in shape. Also during drills, if a player drops a pass or misses a throw, they have to do pushups as a punishment. This conditioning helps get their bodies ready for game days as well, making sure they have enough energy to play.
Game days are different to practice days. During game days, home or away, the team starts with a group stretch and warm up. They also do a few quick drills to get each muscle ready for what will have to be done during the game. After, the game starts and they play their hardest or cheer on the girls who are playing. After the game, win or lose, they come together as a team and talk about the game. The coaches discuss what could’ve been done better or what was done well and get ready for the next game or practice.
Coach Taylor said, “The biggest thing is the entire game we are cheering each other on, no matter the score in order to keep our heads in the game.”
Everyone on the team tries to be each other’s’ biggest cheerleaders, which helps the game go well, even if they are losing.
The entire team hopes to be able to cheer each other on as far as possible during the conference tournament. They’re focusing first, though, on finishing out the regular season strong.
