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Chagrin team 'sticks' together in lacrosse
(by Tony Lange - May 18, 2011)
Chagrin team 'sticks' together in lacrosse
By TONY LANGE
It's not about one or two star sticks in the lineup. It's about the team system.
Averaging more than 12 goals a game, any player can score at any time, and that's what makes the Lady Tigers lacrosse team a strong program this season, head coach KC White said.
"Our strength this season is our ability to score in any way," she said. "We don't have a go-to player. We play within the system, which everyone had a very important role."
Coach White hardly ever points to specific players, because the Tigers really are a program, and each player on the team on and off the fields make a big difference in the overall success, she said.
In their two games last week, the Tigers beat Hudson, 12-11, in overtime and Western Reserve Academy, 15-10, to improve the record to 9-4.
The Hudson game was defined by scoring runs, with the Tigers going up by three goals in the first half before the Explorers made their run to go ahead by four goals in the second half.
The Tigers rallied to tie the game with less than five minutes to play and then scored what would have been the winning goal with about 15 seconds left in regulation, White said. A dangerous follow-through, however, nullified the go-ahead goal, and the Tigers entered overtime down two players due to penalties.
"We have a very mature team. We have a lot of seniors. They came off after the goal was called back, and they came with the attitude, 'Well, I guess we'll have to beat them fair and square basically,'" White said. "We're a team that tries not to over-think too much. We just play because we love the game."
In high school lacrosse, there are two three-minute halves in sudden-death overtime, and the Tigers scored midway through the second three minutes for the 12-11 victory.
"We went on a run at the right time at the end of the game to tie it up and enter overtime with momentum," White said.
Kate Mackin, a sophomore midfielder, and Meghan Shroyer, a senior midfielder, led the team with three goals each. Jillian Ertel, a senior attack, and Katie Seidel, a senior midfielder, had two goals each. Molly Stancik and Sammi Keck, both senior attacks, each scored one goal. Mallory Widmar, senior goaltender, tallied 13 saves.
With eight seniors on this year's team, the Lady Tigers have an immense amount of lacrosse knowledge and experience that they bring to the field, White said. In the beginning of the season, she decided to name the entire senior class captains, and all of them go to the center circle prior to the start of the game, because they each bring something unique to the team, she said.
"They also make sure that everyone in the program feels like they're a part of our success," she said.
Many different sporting programs at various schools have a junior varsity team sit on the varsity bench or stand on the varsity sideline during games.
One thing that's unique is that all of the Tigers' varsity players also sit on the junior varsity bench during the junior varsity games, White said.
"We've really tried to be one program this year, and that started with the leadership of the seniors. They've done a great job of including underclassmen, of including junior varsity players in their success," she said. "I know our JV kids love when they come off the field and they have a state-caliber player saying, 'Nice job. That was an awesome goal,' or, 'What an assist,' or, 'Great ground ball.'"
During Chagrin Falls' 15-10 triumph over Western Reserve Academy last week, the Tigers were led by Shroyer's five goals, Mackin's four and Stancik's three. Seidel and senior attack Lendsay Lingafelter and sophomore midfielder Shannon Fung scored one each. Widmar had eight saves.
With wins against Hudson and WRA, it was a good week for the Tigers, White said.
The Tigers start their postseason May 19 at home against the winner of the Cardinal Mooney and Andrews Osbourne Academy play-in game as a part of the North-Central Region Division II tournament. The time was to be agreed upon by the two competing schools.
The girls are excited for the postseason, White said. "It's kind of why you play the game, to see what you're made of in the postseason."
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