![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Varsity girls lacrosse defeats Stevenson School 15-4
Lauren Russell (12) engages in the draw with a player from Stevenson. The draw begins play in lacrosse as a means of determining the first ball possession, and is performed both to begin the game and after each point.
March 17, 2018
The girls lacrosse team defeated Stevenson School 15-4 this Thursday at home.
The girls came out swinging, with three quick goals scored by Elise Mayer (11) and Grace Hajjar (10) in the first 70 seconds.
After the quick opener, the pace of the game slowed, with no goals being scored by either team for the next seven minutes. The eagles followed their strong opening with four more goals by Elise, Lauren Russell (12) and Heidi Zhang (11) before giving up the first point to Stevenson at the 7:38 minute mark.
The teams continued to trade goals before the end of the half, with Lauren answering Stevenson’s first point with another. Two additional goals by Stevenson followed, only to be themselves countered by a goal by Piper White (10) at the 1:00 mark and the last goal of the half scored by Lauren with 19.4 seconds left. The first half concluded 10-3.
The second half was marked by a lower score count as both teams maintained effective defenses. Nevertheless, Harker ultimately prevailed in the second half with five points scored by Piper, Elise and Grace to Stevenson’s one.
The game ended 15-4.
The team’s coach, Alyssa Dunlap, attributed the win to a new defensive strategy unveiled this game.
“From a tactical standpoint, we implemented a new zone defense,” Coach Dunlap said. “This is the first time I’ve ever put in a zone actually being at Harker, and [the team]’s taken to it pretty well and executed our zone really well.”
In a zone-based defense, players are assigned areas of the field to defend — as opposed to the more typical “man-to-man” defense where each player is assigned a player on the other team to continually guard.
“A lot of high school teams aren’t used to seeing zones, and so they don’t know how to attack a zone,” Coach Dunlap said. “Our strong suit, I found, was our zone play instead of man-to-man. In my opinion, man-to-man defense means you play better defense; zone is easier to play but also harder to attack, so I thought ‘why not just throw in a zone this year and see how we do it?'”
Coach Dunlap also believed that the team’s strong draw control helped secure the win, but that the game could have been more conclusive.
“My biggest mantra is ‘we need ball possession in order to win games, and ball possession starts with the draw,'” Coach Dunlap said. “I thought [our midfield transition and draw control] went really well, I thought our offense today was a little bit sloppy, but for the most part I was pleased.”
The girls lacrosse team’s next game is away at Notre Dame on Mar. 20.
