Jaguars mangle girls' lacrosse

BLAZER STADIUM, April 26 -

This story was based on post-game interviews only and not on a first-hand account.

The girls' lacrosse team (5 - 2) experienced their second consecutive loss this season to Northwest on Monday. The Blazers trailed behind the Jaguars the entire game and ended with a final score of 18 - 9.

Senior captain Nellie Garlow attributed the loss to the team's lack of energy and focus. "Overall, the intensity wasn't there," she said. Garlow explained the loss was partially unexpected because Northwest was no more competitive than other teams the Blazers faced this season. "I knew that Northwest was a skilled team," she said. "But going in, I didn't think that they were better than us or that they had any type of strategy that we hadn't seen before."

Junior Lyla Shapiro explained that Northwest has not posed much competition for the Blazers in the past, and that the Blair team just overlooked the Jaguars' abilities. "Going into the game, we weren't intense enough," she said. "We weren't energized."

The Blazers were down the entire game and Shapiro said they were unable to find their rhythm. "We were kind of asleep most of the time," she said. "We had some good moments, but we didn't have enough of them." Shapiro noted sloppy transitions as the Blazers' largest problem during the game. "People kept dropping the ball in the midfield," she explained.

Although Blair trailed for most of the game, Garlow noticed the team managed to pick up the intensity a little in the second half to isolate Northwest's top scorers. "We began to recognize who their top players were and that we needed to shut down certain players," she said. Although they increased their energy, the Blazers never played to the best of their ability, according to Shapiro. "We stepped up a little bit in the second half, but we never really got to where we wanted to be," she said.

Shapiro explained that the Blazers struggled without the help of senior captain Molly Branson and sophomore Julia Lewando on the field, both of whom were out for medical reasons. Due to these absences, other players were forced to change positions.

Both Shapiro and Garlow acknowledged junior Christina Stiles for having a great game. "She fought really hard," Garlow said. "She definitely saved us a lot." Stiles received the game ball for her performance.

On Wednesday, the Blazers play Sherwood, a team that Shapiro noted as especially strong. To get ready for Blair's last divisional game against the Warriors, Shapiro said the team will need to cut to the middle of the field to move the ball better. "We need to work on our transition," she said. She also mentioned a collective need to improve shot selection. "This game, we also had a lot of shots that were right to the goalie's stick and we can't afford to do that against Sherwood," she said.

Currently, the Blazers are 3 - 1 in their division. Garlow explained that if the team beats Sherwood on Wednesday, they could possibly hold a three-way tie for first in the division. "I'm really hoping that we just take these past two games that we haven't been as successful in and realize that we can pick it up and beat anyone," she said.

Girls' lacrosse plays their next home game against Sherwood on April 28 at 7:00 p.m.