After a rigorous last season, the Paly girls’ lacrosse team has goals in mind for their upcoming games. They started this season with a new coach and five practices a week.

“This year one of our goals is to make it to CCS which starts with rigorous training in practices and work ethic,” junior Aspen Stitt said. 

With each practice, the team works on team trust, work ethic, and the fundamental skills and strategies of the game. 

“We have a new coach this season, coach Kaitlin, so everyone is new to her and together we are trying to find the best ways to prepare us for the season by finding which drills work best for us, how we can communicate as a team, and how to build trust.” Senior Skylar Burnett said. 

The team is excited to showcase its abilities even after losing a significant amount of senior players who participated last year. Losing players can have a huge impact on the team’s chemistry and trust. 

“I believe losing the seniors last year is affecting the team because they showed really strong leadership and they made everyone else feel like their contribution mattered and we need to bring that energy back,” Burnett said.

They have high hopes for upcoming games and as well as making it to CCS. Overall the team wants this season to be fun and worthwhile. 

“We all want to work super hard and play competitively during our games and collaborate on the field, but most importantly we really just want to have a bunch of fun and win some games,” sophomore Poppy Barclay said. 

During last year’s season, the team grew closer together as games continued. Although the start of the season did not reflect the team’s abilities. Their first game against cross-town rival saratoga was a tough loss. However, the team picked their heads up and reflected individually. This wake-up call allowed the team to come back stronger in the next game. 

“We started in a bit of a slump last season and after playing Saratoga, we all got our act together and worked really hard individually which lead to greater teamwork and better outcomes in our games,” Burnett said. 

Now the team is expecting to come back this season and hopefully win some competitive and rigorous games. All the players are ready to put forth their best efforts and compete to their best ability this season. 

“I am very excited for this upcoming season of lacrosse and hope that it is better than the last. The team dynamic this year already feels so much better and I can tell that we are going to have a fun season together,” junior Gabby Loops said.