This year’s lacrosse season has been the true definition of a roller coaster. They entered as defending state champions, started slow, picked up speed, had a disappointing finish at the biggest tournament of the year. Now they’re now looking to finish off on a high note as repeat champions.
“We lost a lot of seniors,” senior co-captain Allison Brown said. “At the beginning of the year, we struggled to adjust to each other.”
After four games, the team was 0-3-1, including a loss to Grosse Pointe South and a tie to Okemos.
“There was no panic after the slow start,” Brown said. “We knew we could win, but we just had to fight through the challenges."
Head coach Jen Dunbar sensed that the team just needed to jell, so she just tried to play the waiting game until it happened.
“The coaches did a great job to keep us motivated and the nervousness at ease,” Brown said.
Once the team finally did come together, they appeared unstoppable. They went 8-1 in their next nine games, and all eight victories were by double digits.
“I think we were able to turn the season around because of our motivation,” Brown said. “We got better as players, we learned how to work together, and we learned how to win multiple games in a single day. We got together and said, ‘let’s take control of this,’ because we couldn’t just walk through the season. After that, everyone did the little things and we went on a big streak.”
With the streak at hand, the team was confident heading into the Midwest tournament, a tournament that the girls hoped to win for the first time of any team in Michigan.
The team went 4-1, but they lost the first game, sending them to the back draw, which they won.
“The first game was back and forth,” senior cocaptain Emmy Schiedt said. “In the end we were down and we panicked. The feeling of desperation caused us to lose composure, and we lost 9-8.”
After that game, the girls felt as though little could be achieved from the tournament, but they played hard through the rest of the tournament.
“We were really disappointed,” Scheidt said. “After the first game, we couldn’t achieve our goal, so we used the game as practice in all situations to help us for the state tournament.”
With the tournament now behind them, the team is now looking towards the state tournament to repeat as champions.
“We feel really good heading into states,” senior co-captain Maddie Palmer said. “The games against Marian and Grosse Pointe South will be big.”
Big games bring big distractions, but if the team can handle those, they will have a great shot at repeating.
“We are fired up for the tournament,” Scheidt said. “If we can focus and keep our composure, we have a great shot at winning again. We have a party planned for June 7, and we are confident that we will be having that party.”
