The varsity girls lacrosse team succumbed to Sacred Heart Preparatory 3-5 in their senior night game on April 20.
Before the game, the team honored seniors Katherine Fields, Angelina Hu, Anika Mantripragada, Ellie Schmidt and Olivia Xu. Assistant coach Andrew Irvine introduced each senior and recapped their journey with the lacrosse team. Their teammates followed by presenting each of them with personalized posters and gift baskets.
“I want to thank them for coming out and contributing to our team this year,” Irvine said in his speech. “It’s some of their first years playing lacrosse, but you certainly wouldn’t guess it based on how much of an impact they’ve made. I’m grateful for their commitment, and we’re going to miss them.”
At the start of the game, the Gators secured possession of the ball from the toss-up, but defense player Olivia quickly picked up the ball and advanced it into the opponent’s territory. After middle players Angelina and Audrey Dagum (10) both narrowly missed their attempts at the goal, SHP regained control. Harker committed a foul, allowing a Gator to take a penalty shot, but goalie Suhana Bhandare (10) successfully blocked their attempt. The Gators maintained possession for most of the quarter and scored twice, concluding the quarter with Harker trailing 0-2.
Throughout the second quarter, the Eagles maintained their resilient defense. When a Gator dropped the ball, attack player Ava Bhowmik (10) quickly recovered it, allowing Harker to gain an offensive advantage. After a foul was called against the Gators, captain and middle player Chayce Milheim (11) scored a penalty shot, which narrowed the score to 1-2 at the end of the second quarter.
The Gators started with the ball in the third quarter and kept possession, making two penalty shots within a few minutes. Despite Suhana thwarting the Gators’ attempt at another goal, they swiftly rebounded the ball and scored. The Eagles were able to reclaim the momentum with a goal from Chayce, bringing the score to 2-5. Continuing their offensive drive, the Eagles prevented the Gators from gaining possession.
In the fourth quarter, the Gators had a chance at another penalty shot, but middle player Rumi Gupta (11) intercepted the ball before the Gators could attempt to score. Following a fumble where both Eagles and Gators ran to recover the ball, Ava emerged with possession, advancing closer to the Gators’ goal. Chayce scored the last goal in the final minute of the game, ending the match 3-5.
With just three more players than the required 12, the small lacrosse team faces challenges in maintaining momentum. Audrey reflected on the strength of the lacrosse team throughout the entire game.
“Although it’s disappointing when the final score is such a close loss, we all played our best and I’m super proud of our team for the effort we put in despite our numbers,” Audrey said. “For how small our team is, it’s difficult to keep up the energy we have in the first two quarters through the second half, which is a big obstacle every game.”
Attacker and middle player Ellie started playing lacrosse for the first time in her sophomore year. She appreciated the hard work each player put into the games and hoped her teammates would continue enjoying themselves in future seasons.
“Everyone put in a good effort, and it was really great to see how we’ve grown as a team since our first game,” Ellie said. “The senior night celebration was really nice, and for the rest of the season, I hope we just have fun.”
The varsity girls lacrosse team concluded their season with a 0-13 record.