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Poland’s future looks bright in girls lacrosse
By Dan Hiner
Poland
The Poland girls lacrosse lost to Kent Roosevelt 9-2 on Saturday in a Division II, Region 6 first-round playoff match at Dave Pavlansky Field.
But the loss is just another step forward.
The Bulldogs (2-11) were eliminated in the first round last season. They lost 10 seniors from that roster, and had to deal with injuries this year.
Poland had to start Alexa Black at goalie. Black had never played goalie. She volunteered for the position earlier in the week. She was originally a midfielder and attacker.
The starting goalie had an internship and the backup was out with a concussion.
Black finished with five saves.
“I felt like it had a big impact on us since we just started training her last night,” sophomore midfielder Emillie Franco said. “We had a complete different set with our clears and everything. It was hard on us, but I feel like we handled it pretty well.
“She did pretty good. She had a lot of saves, and for just learning the game yesterday as a keeper, she did pretty good.”
It was Kent Roosevelt’s first win of the season.
The Rough Riders (1-11) led 6-0 by halftime. Poland didn’t win a draw until the two-minute mark of the first half.
Cassidy Bouine had five goals for the Rough Riders. Anna Swan scored twice while Carlye Neaffer and Katie Kingsley each had a goal.
An unassisted goal by Addison Kaschak got the Bulldogs on the board with 24:40 left in the game.
Marissa Mangino scored Poland’s other goal with eight minutes left. Zoe Simon ran behind the net and found Mangion three yards infront of Rough Riders’ goalie Kymani Nasser.
Nasser finished with 12 saves, nine in the second half.
“Possession is key [in lacrosse], and the girls were unable to [maintain] possession in the first half,” Poland head coach Nichole Blaze said.
“That’s what they focused on in the second half, got more shots off in the second half and defense stepped it up. I’m really proud of how the girls played today.
Most of Poland’s roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores. Of the 29 players, just four are seniors and three are juniors.
Poland’s starting midfielders will all return, and heathier than this year. Allyson Andrews, Franco and Kaschak all started. Andrews suffered an ankle injury late in the season and Franco suffered a torn ACL during the soccer season.
Andrews led the team in ground balls and goals. She is among the top 40 in ground balls in the state and averaged three goals a game.
“It’s always hard to end [the season] on a loss, especially in the plays, but we’ll have potential next year with a lot of young girls we can build up,” Andrews said. “If we keep working, keep our stick skills up we should be really good in the coming years.”
Blaze and the Bulldogs hope the junior varsity team, which played its inaugural season this year, with provide more experienced players in the future.
The JV squad finished 7-2.
“Really we’re looking forward to next year being a strong year,” Blaze said. “So many girls playing JV this year and playing in all of these games this year, so we’re really looking forward to next year.”