After a successful regular season, ending with an 8-4 record, the girls lacrosse team lost in the second round of the playoffs to Sherwood 5-10.

Coming into their playoff rematch, the team was very excited to be facing Sherwood once again.  After their regular season match up, in which WJ lost 10-12 in a close game, it was apparent that both teams were very evenly matched.  Until the girls’ mid-season loss to Sherwood in late April, both teams had identical records and were tied for first place in their division.

“We wanted the game more than them and we dominated for most of the game, but the other team just got some lucky shots and opportunities,” said junior attack Jamie Cooper after their difficult playoff loss.

Despite losing to Sherwood during the regular season, the team was still optimistic that they would be able to beat them in the playoffs.  Sherwood received many breaks during the regular season game that could have gone either way.  Unfortunately, their playoff rematch turned out to be very similar to their regular season game with Sherwood coming out on top in spite of being outplayed.

Although the team’s season ended much earlier than they would have liked, the Wildcats were able to overcome early season struggles, including a head coaching change and a totally revamped roster to earn a bye in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row.  The team got along well from the beginning of the season, quickly developing strong team chemistry among the players, coaches and captains that they hope to carry onto next year’s team.

Cooper agrees that this was still a very successful season for the team.

Without the new winning mentality that Coach Borsody brought to the team and veteran leadership from senior captains Yassie Ajdari (goalie)and Grace Durkin (attack) as well as junior defender Sarah Howie, Cooper doesn’t believe they would have been able to reach this level of success.

“They both lead the players to try their best every time we were on the field and everyone respects them as team leaders,” said Cooper when asked about their new coach and team captains.

Although the team is still focusing on their early playoff loss to Sherwood and attempting to determine exactly what caused the team to lose, they are still very optimistic about their future and excited to play on the new turf field for an entire season.  Next year, the team will have a total of 12 seniors, a very drastic change from the 12 juniors on this year’s team.  The team will miss senior captains Ajdari and Durkin as well as Georgina Beven (midfield) and Emily Carter (defense) from this year, but will be even more poised to make a long playoff run with plenty of veteran leadership on next year’s team.