The women’s lacrosse team ended their regular season with a record of 14-4. The team is currently ranked 4th in the State and 15th in the Midwest.
According to head coach Annie Lesch, the team is very well balanced and is more consistent this year than ever.
“[The girls have been] playing more consistently throughout the whole game and not having as many peaks and valleys as we’ve done in years past,” Lesch said. “[The team] is able to replicate the intensity of a game in our practices and [they’re] taking each game individually.”
Senior captain Kelly Ward believes that the team’s balance on the field and record of only four losses reflects the effort the lacrosse program has put into increasing their state ranking.
“Our [team’s] main goal has always been to win state [and though] we are happy with our current seeding, we want to keep pushing it and improving,” Ward said. “We hope to [excel in the State playoffs] by always giving 100 percent in practice and working together well on and off the field.”
The women’s lacrosse program rankings have slowly been on the rise over the past few years and in 2013, the Titans finished 8th place in the state. According to Lesch, the team is aiming for entering the Final Four in the state and are changing some of their game strategies to improve their game.
“[The girls are] changing their attack sets depending on the opponent we’re playing,” Lesch said. “And we’re taking each game individually, [and] preparing for different defenses we’ll see. We’re also trying to stay loose, not get into a mental game, but to rather be loose and confident when we step onto the field.”
Senior captain Carly Weinman believes that the team’s wins against highly ranked teams, such as Montini Catholic and GBN, gave South’s women’s lacrosse program a good name and increased the confidence of the girls.
The Titans played Montini Catholic on April 16 and according to senior captain Calie Nowak, winning the Montini game helped determine the road the rest of their season would go down.
“Winning this game meant the world to us and it means that we’re just that much closer to winning the State tournament,” Nowak said. “[The Montini game] meant everything [to our season] and it meant the world to us.”
Along with the win against Montini, the team’s victory over GBN boosted the morale of the girls, according to Weinman, and the girls exited their season ready for the State playoffs.
“There was a lot of [excitement] about this game and there was so much energy going into [the game],” Weinman said. “[While] they gave us a good game in the beginning, we pulled away near the beginning of the second half and winning the game put us in a good position for playoffs.”
Ward believes that the success of their season can be attributed to the trust that all of the girls had for each other.
“If our team was not as balanced, we would not have done as well in the season,” Ward said. “By us being so balanced we are able to trust everyone on the team completely with anything.”
Though the team is enthusiastic about their recent success in the regular season, Nowak sees the team going far in the State playoffs. Some key players this season include Nowak on attack, Ward on midfield, and senior captain Kara Stevens on defense.
Lesch is optimistic about the team’s performance in the state playoffs and believes that the team is both mentally and physically preparing for what’s to come.
“I’m excited to see what this team can accomplish in the playoffs, but we need to stay grounded in what has gotten us here so far, hard work.” Lesch said.
The Sectional finals begin on May 28.