Paly’s varsity girls’ lacrosse season will begin with a game against Gunn High School on Tuesday.
In its second year of existence, the team is gunning to win its division and advance to league playoffs.
According to coach Jen Gray, the team has good speed and aggression across the board.
“We have a ton of speed, aggressive defense, and not one superstar,” Gray said. “Everybody is dangerous and everybody scores. It’s not easy to defend us.”
Although the team is young, with several freshmen and sophomores, it has the dedication and desire to win, Gray said.
“I could tell they [the varsity team] worked hard on stick skills over the summer,” Gray said. “I am really proud of the team and expect to win.”
Junior defender Lauren Traube feels that it is time for the team to establish dominance in the league.
“I want to show up all the teams we played last year,” Traube said. “I want to beat Gunn [High School] and I want to beat MA [Menlo Atherton] really bad.”
The JV team hopes to build teamwork and become more comfortable with the game, according to sophomore Leigh Dairaghi.
They share the varsity team’s speed, Dairaghi said.
“We haven’t gotten to know each other but I think we have good offense and fast people,” Dairaghi said.
Gray plans to brush up the varsity team’s skills. Though the varsity team members are in good shape, they will continue to work on their shooting and dodging on attack and man-on-man defense, Gray said. Additionally, the team members will aim for consistency with their non-dominant hands.
“Their skills are not quite second nature yet,” Gray said.
According to junior Lauren Mah, some teamwork and communication also need to be developed.
“We’re still a young team, so we’re working on working together,” Mah said. “We can adapt to play our best. We need more communication on the field, like being loud and talking.”
According to Gray, the biggest competition in the division will come from Burlingame. Paly’s toughest game in the league will be against Menlo Atherton, Gray said.
“I am excited to see them [Paly] play against other teams,” Gray said. “Last year they competed but had no big wins. I’m excited to have them succeed.”
The varsity team will play Gunn at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Gunn.
Editor’s note, March 3, 2009: The time and location of the varsity game against Gunn was changed on March 2, 2009, from 4 p.m. at Paly to 5:30 p.m. at Gunn. The current version of this story reflects this change.