HOLDEN — When the Wachusett High girls’ varsity lacrosse team netted a pair of goals in the first 90 seconds of their matchup with visiting Nashoba Regional High on April 22, it should have been taken as a harbinger of big things to come.
Perhaps no one on hand would have predicted that 21 more goals would find their way into their opponent’s net, but that’s what happened as the Mountaineer girls dominated from start to finish in a wild one at Hal Lane Field, which ended with a final score of 23-10. The victory ups Wachusett’s record to 4-3, with the midpoint of the 2023 season fast approaching.
“Today is a huge motivator for us,” said thirdyear WRHS head coach Jill Liposky postgame. “The start to the season is always a little rough. You’re dusting off everything. We had two tough games at the start of our season (losses to Algonguin Regional and Westborough High), but mentally I don’t think that got us down. Maybe unlike years gone past, they have confidence in each other, and what we can do this season shows with every win we get.”
“At the beginning of the season, our confidence wasn’t that great, but since we’ve been winning it’s grown,” said senior co-captain Logan Baker. “We’ve seen that through many people scoring, and that’s something that’s improved through confidence in each other and in ourselves by getting wins like this today. I’ve played with these girls for so many years. This is my senior year, and seeing us all come together and our bond and our chemistry means so much with all the positive energy and enthusiasm.”
“We’ve been in the other position (decisive loss), and it’s just great to see the teamwork,” said junior co-captain Meghann Jones, who has verbally committed to compete as a Gael for New York’s Division 1 Iona University. “We had a great practice Friday. We had so many scores, and it’s awesome to come back after a tough loss. This was a great rebound for us. We went into the season not focused enough, and it took a few losses to get in the right head space, and now we’re back.
“I like how we can dig ourselves out of some tough losses. Most of our wins have been by coming through when we were down by a few goals. We’ll get together and sometimes we don’t even look at the scoreboard. We’re just here to play lacrosse and play together as a team, and it shows on our record. I believe in this team, and I know we can go far.”
Scoring for the Mountaineers versus Nashoba were Jones (7 goals, 2 assists), Kate Robinson (2 goals), Baker (4 goals, 3 assists), Tori Amico (2 goals, 4 assists), Rileigh Leary (4 goals, 4 assists) and Kaitlyn Head (4 goals, 1 assist). The team recorded 21 draw controls on the day.
The Mountaineer girls will savor the positivity resulting from their scorched earth win against Nashoba but recognize that there is still plenty to do to make a full-effort bid for post-season competition. Nothing will come easy, players and coach admit.
“I think one of the improvements through my three years coaching has been the strength we have in our attack unit,” said Liposky. “I think we’ve grown exponentially and everyone is a potential scorer on this team. I think our defense is doing a very good job settling and controlling the defense and picking up and doing a quick transition up field.
“The small things are what we need to work on: keeping positive on the field while capitalizing on the little things like ground ball controls, the draw controls, settling in and waiting for the perfect opportunity on net, and making sure you’re moving that goalie.
“I love the personalities on this team. We have a very high blend of personalities. Some people are quiet and others have big personalities, but the unique thing is that they all know their roles.”
Said Baker: “We need to work on offensive and defensive transition like being able to get the ball on defense and bringing it up on offense without any turnovers, and playing good defense when they bring it down and we stop them.”
Members of the 2023 Wachusett Regional High School girls’ varsity lacrosse team: Vittoria Amico, Taylor Bacchetta, Logan Baker, Maeve Brush, Kathryn Guertin, Emily Hazen, Kaitlyn Head, Jordan Jarvi, Ali Jones, Meghann Jones, Nadia Krasheninin, Rileigh Leary, Kate Louder, Quinn Milotte, Kate Robinson, Lizzy Sawyer and Eloise White. Captains are Meghann Jones, Logan Baker and Vittoria Amico.
