![LALC Vice President of External Affairs Raeanne Li (11) explains the International Phonetic Alphabet to attendees. "We decided to have more fun topics this year instead of just talking about the same things every year so our older members can also [enjoy],” Raeanne said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/DSC_4627-1200x795.jpg)
![“[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)
Sticks in the air. Players huddled in a circle. “Pump, pump, pump it up, pump, pump, pump, pump it up, pump, pump, pump it up, eagles!” chanted the girls’ lacrosse team as they prepared for their first game of the season.
The Eagles fell short of a season opener victory on Davis Field to Pioneer High School, ending with a final result of 6-11, on Tuesday, February 28.
Nonetheless, the Eagles started out strong. Within the first thirty seconds, Michelle Douglas (11) penetrated through the Pioneer Mustang’s defense to score the first goal.
After minutes of strong offense and defense from both teams, Wendy Shwe (11) took possession of the ball and ran from mid-field to score the second goal of the night; Eagles in the lead 2-1.
However, the Mustangs responded. With the Eagles struggling to close out the first half, the Mustangs scored four consecutive goals in the span of seven minutes, increasing their score to 2-5 at the end of the first half.
Throughout the first half, goalie Christine Lee (10), who practiced her skills at Stanford Lacrosse Camp over winter break, blocked three balls while attack players Michelle and Wendy both had numerous attempts at shots.
The second half started with a flurry of goals from the Mustangs, but the Eagles rebounded with shots from Tiphaine Delephine (11), Wendy Shwe, and Hannah Bollar (9).
Overall, the players were satisfied with the outcome of the game. Asia Howard (12) was content with the performance, but believes that the team could use more practice, especially because there are many new players. However, she thinks that the new players put forth a lot of energy on the field.
“Some of the new players have this fire within them, and you can see it on the field. Their aggressiveness is actually very helpful,” she said.
Hannah believes that the team improved their clearing skills after practicing them over the past week. However, she thinks that the team still needs to work on its defense.
“Marking your players the entire time around the midfield area is important in case the ball comes back to midfield and they get a fast break on us,” she said.
Although Pioneer is above the Eagles’ league, Head Coach Andrew Irvine thinks the score of the game showed that the girls have the potential to have a successful season.
“I was very excited with our progress,” Irvine said. “That is a very competitive team that we did well against. I expect that based on these results, we are going to do really well in the season, especially in our league.”
The girls face Bella Vista next Friday, March 9.
