VICTORIAN SCHOOLS LACROSSE DAY, Monday 5th September
Every Thursday lunchtime in the gym for the last 7 weeks was going to pay off today. A very positive and determined team set off for Pasley Park, Altona to take part in the annual schools’ lacrosse tournament. We finally left Bendigo (nice one Alyssa) and unusually, the closer we got to Melbourne the better the day looked and it was a perfect day for Lacrosse. The BSSC team were playing in the Girls Division 2, usually populated by teams like ours that did not play regular Lacrosse. We did in fact play against some players with quite some experience.
The first game was against Mount St. Joseph’s. This team went on to win the division. However, our girls held them scoreless throughout the match – the only team to do this. Hayley dominated the defensive end of the ground – intercepting, pressuring and running the ball into attack. Jen’s catching was superb in this game and all players got after the hard ground balls, giving us the edge in possession. Despite some chances, we did not manage to score and the game finished 0-0.
The next round was against Mater Christi “C”. It was Cheyenne this time who made many clearances from defence. Sarah controlled her side of the midfield with hard running and clean pickups while Felicity was making space and providing a target. In this game players started to consider their options better and the 3 passes started to happen – the highlight was Hayley’s assist to Alyssa for a well constructed goal. Score line 2-2 with goals to Hayley and Alyssa.
Mater Christi “D” was the next opponent. Great running from “2” (Htoo) set up opportunities and “X” (Xiaolan) got the hang of her tagging role, keeping her opponent out of the game. Cheyenne moved to attack and scored and Hayley added to her tally as we came away with a 2-0 win.
Our last round was against Mater Christi “B”, who on paper, and on the field, were tough opponents. All, players had to lift and be on their game – great goalie work from Jade kept us in it and she took more than one for the team. Maddy’s ability to provide an outlet and her sure catching were often needed, she was always in the right place, and Izzy came on in the second half and made a big impact putting the opposition off their game. Another 0-0 draw was reward for the terrific endeavour that all players showed.
After the rounds (we hadn’t lost a game) we played off for third place (the Bronze medal match). The BSSC girls had their confidence up and really played like a team. Coach Gino made many subs as players ran hard, backed each other up and showed greatly improved skills. Jade and Maddy intercepted well, Flick was great in goals and the hardest working of all was Hayley. Goals to Alyssa, Cheyenne and Hayley gave BSSC a 3-0 win and a deserved third place in the competition.
Our thanks go to coach Gino Iuliano for giving up his time to come up at lunchtimes to train the team and for his encouragement and leadership on the day. All players said that this was a great experience and they can all be very satisfied and pleased with their efforts and their demeanour both on and off the field.
Last Modified on 08/09/2016 13:21