LAX Competes Well Against Ranked Teams in Florida Tournament
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- One of the perks of joining a varsity athletic team at CMS is having the opportunity to travel. The women’s lacrosse team was able to do that during Spring Break as they traveled to Florida for the annual “Spring Fling” Invitational. Although this tournament was a great opportunity for the Athenas to bond and have fun, they had business to take care of as this was the first time this season they would have the opportunity to compete against top ranked teams. Their tournament opponents included #19 Stevenson, Norwich and #12 Babson.
In their first game against Stevenson, the Athenas scored three quick goals in the first 13 minutes to take an early lead. CMS led the half in draw controls 9-2, which gave them a huge possession advantage in the opening half. In the start of the second half, All-American Sarah Dick (JR Beverly, MA) scored in the fourth minute to extend their lead 8-4. The Mustangs were very reckless with their fouls, committing 28 fouls to the Athenas’ 13. Their reckless play led to numerous 8-meter opportunities for the Athenas, but the Athenas were unable to convert on their 15 attempts, scoring only six goals from the 8-meter. This allowed the Mustangs to methodically chip at the lead. Five unanswered goals by Stevenson gave them an 11-9 lead with 3:21 left to play. Devon Scott’s (SR, Portland, OR) goal in the 28th minute narrowed the deficit to one, but the Athenas missed two key free-position shots with 1:12 and :25 seconds to go and lost the game 11-10.
The Athenas were able to regain their confidence against Norwich on Wednesday, where they easily handled the Cadets 17-1. CMS jumped to an early 9-0 lead by the ten-minute mark of the first half and with the comfortable lead, the Athenas were able to seal the win with great defense and ball possession. Ali Abramovitz (SO, Denver, CO), Cori Solomon (JR, Washington, DC), Cassy Delano (SR, Boston, MA), Kaitlyn Desai (JR, Chesterfield, MO), and Allie Haynes (SO, Atherton) each scored two goals a piece. Sarah Dick scored four goals on five shots.
In their final day of competition, the Athenas looked to leave the tournament with a winning record, but were up against a tough opponent in Babson, who was ranked #8 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) poll.
CMS put themselves in an early 5-1 deficit in the opening minutes of the first half, but the Athenas were able to storm back with a 5-2 run of their own to narrow the margin to one goal. The one goal deficit seemed to be very manageable, but Babson scored four goals in the first 10 minutes and put the game out of reach. CMS traded goals with Babson for the rest of the second half, but lost the game 15-10.
Despite leaving the tournament 1-2, the Athenas had a large first-half lead in their first lose and a one goal first-half deficit in their second loss. Coach Miles explained they have the ability to compete against some of the top teams in Division III, but as she pointed out, “they need to learn to put a team away when we have the chance.”
The Athenas will continue their SCIAC play as they host Redlands on March 23 @ 7:00.