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Canfield girls lacrosse team puts lessons to use against Poland
Canfield girls put lessons to use
By BOB ETTINGER
CANFIELD
MeLynda Guerrieri has been trying to build trust between her players on the Canfield girls lacrosse team.
The Cardinals appear to be taking those lessons well, as they exhibited in a 16-2 victory over Poland at Bob Dove Field on Friday night.
“We’ve built [trust] though team bonding,” Guerrieri said. “We watch film together, we have team dinners. Before the year, we went as a team and played paint ball. If you don’t have trust in lacrosse, you’re trying to play as an individual. You’re taking the ball and running around by yourself trying to cram it into the net.”
Goalkeeper Mara Guerrieri, headed to Seton Hill University on a scholarship, knows her trust in the Cardinals on the back end allows her to be at her best.
“My biggest thing is, if I know the defense is good, it takes a lot of pressure of me,” Mara Guerrieri said. “When the other team is coming down the field, I like to call out how many players are on the right and how many are on the left. I can trust them to do what they need to and it allows me to just watch the ball.”
Leading scorer Isabella Kelty thinks the Cardinals (6-2) have built trust in each other through their offseason work.
“We put in the time during the season and during the offseason,” Kelty said. “A lot of us also play for a travel team. We play together, so we get to work together in the offseason. We build trust and skills with each other. When we come together for the season, the skills we’ve built in the offseason rise. It’s fun, so everyone likes to do it.”
MeLynda Guerrieri might be the point person for her team and its growth.
“I feel like the confidence we built starts with Coach Guerrieri,” Kelty said. “Seeing Coach have confidence gives us confidence. If someone is down, we boost her up. I like to remind players to hae confidence. That’s something everyone needs to hear.”
The belief in their coach has allowed the Cardinals to fully commit to the program.
“The girls have bought into lacrosse,” MeLynda Guerrieri said. They practice on their own in the summer. A lot of them play for a travel team. I had them keep a log of what they do regarding lacrosse in the summer. Some have put 200 hours in. Others have 100. The girls want this sport. They’ve bought in and it makes it easier to coach them.”
The extra work doesn’t end in the offseason. Many of the Cardinals find time to work on what they consider their weaknesses on their own.
“[Emily Willson] felt she couldn’t score,” MeLynda Guerrieri said. “She came up here and worked on it for three hours on a Sunday. She scored two goals in our next game. It’s more girls than not this year who will do that. Before games, they ask me what I want them to do or what I need them to do. They have more of that athletic mentality now.”
Kelty scored three times against the Bulldogs and Clare Crescimanno added two more. Hannah Crowe, Geena Cianciola, Ally Willson, Lily Pollen, Athena Poullas, Tara Santoro, Emily Willson, Delaney Pallo, Shiane Donnarummno and Sarah Grohovsky all scored once.
Poland can learn from the game.
“They do learn from every loss,” Poland coach Carly Frisone said. “At practice, we’ll put it out there for the girls that we did notice x, y and z and what we need to be doing. We can take something from any game and make improvements and adjust the things we need to adjust. We learn different defensive strategies we need to use.”
Allyson Andrews and Syda Masucci scored back-to-back goals in the first half for the Bulldogs.
“We didn’t run with it,” Frisone said. “The girls stayed in the game and played really well. The defense worked the hardest I’ve seen this season.”