Marisa Ellis
Staff Writer
With only as few seconds left, the National Lacrosse Team scored and won the Women’s Los Angeles National Tournament with a score of 16-11 on May 18 in Redondo Beach. The U-19 Team, which consists of lacrosse players from different schools, competed against the traveling National Team.
Both teams were made up of 9-12 graders. Two of Costa’s lacrosse girls, sophomore Kayla Sugimoto, junior Taylor St. Germain, and senior Ashley Duncan were chosen to play along with other lacrosse players from around the South Bay on the U-19 Team. Only the best players from all South Bay schools were chosen to be part of this team. This All-Star Team from the South Bay was selected to play the best U-19 lacrosse players from across the country.
“It was a good experience to play with other lacrosse players from different schools,” sophomore Ania Brown from Oak Park High School said. “I was lucky to be chosen to play on this team.”
With no practice or training before the actual game, the U-19 South Bay team rushed onto the field ready to compete against the national team. Unlike the South Bay Team who was chosen by coaches based on their play during the season, the National Team was chosen by tryouts.
“The tryouts were tough against other talented lacrosse players,” Oak Park High School sophomore, Morgan Shorts, a member of the National Team said. “I just concentrated on myself and competed to my best ability.”
This was the only game played between the South Bay and National Team until next year’s tournament. Sophomore, Maddie Farmer, of Redondo Union High School along with her fellow teammates on the South Bay Team, fought until the end of this intense game, however, they lost with a final score of 16-11.
“I was very disappointed that we lost,” Farmer said. “But we tried our best and I am grateful for this opportunity to play other talented lacrosse players in this tournament.”
“During the game, I got really focused and I didn’t think about anything else except putting the ball into the net,” sophomore Gwynneth Thomas from Chaminade High School said. “ I concentrated on controlling the ball so I could protect it when I carried it up the field.”
Since the game was played against advanced lacrosse players, it was crucial that each team utilized their best defense in order to keep the opposing team from scoring.
“Our communication during the game was really strong, and that was the key to our win,” sophomore National Team member Kelsey Wood said. “The players I passed to during the game had great passing and shooting skills which was the key to our beating the South Bay Team this year.”
Leave a Reply