On April 24, the girls lacrosse team went up against the Briar Woods Falcons in their fifth home game of the season. Still on the hunt for their first win of the year, the Phoenix put forth a tremendous amount of work on both their offensive and defensive fronts. Despite the valiant effort by the Phoenix, they fell to the Falcons in a 16-2 loss.

In the initial stages of the game, particularly in the first quarter, the Falcons took the offensive lead, scoring right at the start of the game with about 11 minutes left on the clock. The Phoenix called for a time-out soon after with about 7 minutes left in the first quarter. According to senior Sierra Bell, these time-outs are often helpful for the team. 

“During those little team meetings, or timeouts or between quarters, we talked about what we did well, and what we needed to work on,” Bell said. “Talking was definitely something that we did well, and that helps a lot.”

Near the end of the first quarter, with only three seconds left on the clock, a Falcon player attempted to score a goal over a Phoenix player’s shoulder, earning herself a yellow card. The quarter ended with the Phoenix down 6-0. 

The second quarter started with the Falcons receiving another yellow card after placing the player who previously got a yellow card in the previous quarter, back into the game.

“At the end of the first quarter, this girl got a dangerous shot,” Bell said. “She shot it over someone’s head. You can’t do that. So she got a yellow then and had to stay out for two minutes of the second quarter. But she didn’t, and so she came back early, and then they got two yellow cards.” 

The rest of the game was marked by significant lengths of possession from the Falcons’ offense, giving the Phoenix’s defense several opportunities to show off their endurance.  “This game we especially struggled with having so many injuries in the game, and absences,” junior Jackie Cheek said. “So I think for future games, we’ll definitely have better attendance, better health, and then won’t be as tired.” While under constant pressure, the Phoenix were able to consistently force turnovers. However, this effort fell short as the game ended with a final score of 16-2 in the Falcons favor, with Bell scoring an impressive goal nearing the end of the game. 

Senior Ashi Akula thought highly of the team’s defensive effort, and she hopes to build on that as the season continues.  “I’m just happy everyone gave it their all in the fourth quarter, and we can go home knowing that everyone did their best,” Akula said.

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Diya Chand

Minutes after the whistle sounded, juniors Jackie Cheek and Lexi Anspach meet up. The team often regrouped to talk about their strategy going forward. “I think we've done a lot better working on the transition up to offense from defense on the return,” Cheek said. “I've been working on that a lot in practice recently.”