As the clouds cleared on Friday, April 29 SDA’s girls lacrosse team was preparing to face one of the top 10 teams in the county, Carlsbad. Both schools warmed up in the heat and took the field at the blow of the whistle.

The first half was not the strongest for the Mustangs as Carlsbad scored eight goals. With a combination of their speed, athleticism, and skill the Mustangs struggled to keep up and stop the Lancers from completing their crisp passes.

The Carlsbad offense was not the only difficulty: their defense was something to be impressed with as well because once the Mustangs were able to hang on to the ball the Lancers knocked it out and swooped it from the ground. Also the Carlsbad goalie is one of the best in the county and SDA struggled to get the ball past her.

“Remember girls, shoot from her ribcage to her knees: that’s where she’s going to hesitate and second-guess herself to hold the stick up or down,” said head coach Chuck Kaczmarek during a team timeout.

Halftime arrived and SDA was down 1-8 with their only goal scored by junior Blair Crickmore. As the girls huddled coach Kaczmarek talked to them about challenging the Carlsbad players and trying to get back when they take possession of the ball.

“Defense, when you need help you can’t just say ‘help’ once you need to say it multiple times so we can hear you,” said senior captain Kailie Pasko.

Halftime was over and the Mustangs went back in it to try and catch up. At the start of the second half SDA scored the first goal thanks to freshman Rachel Rahilly. The Mustangs continued to keep a strong defense as senior goalie Morgan Joel made several saves against Carlsbad and prevented the Lancers from scoring for the majority of the second half. They only scored one other goal the second half.

Towards the end of the half junior Harper Crickmore scored for the Mustangs which put the score 3-9. Kaczmarek called a timeout and tried to inspire the players to pick up their game.

“If we want to have a chance at beating these guys we need to score a goal per minute,” he said.

The Mustangs jogged onto the field and treated every minute with the same importance that their coached described: unfortunately the girls couldn’t overcome the rough start and lost 3-9.

Despite the loss Kaczmarek kept a smile on his face and laughed as the girls were in mobs struggling for the ball chuckling about how much of a struggle it is to compete with these skilled schools. It’s safe to say that SDA walked off the field having fun because the winning coach, Carlsbad, yelled and paced way more than Kaczmarek, making for an optimistic atmosphere.