OA Girls' Lacrosse Looks to Take Next Step

After a 7-11 season last year that resulted in the Oliver Ames girls' lacrosse team falling just short of the state tournament, this year's crop of Tigers is hoping to take that next step.

"We want to be in the tournament," said OA coach Kelly Downs. "We have a tough schedule. We play Mansfield and Franklin. We play two games against Martha’s Vineyard and two games against Braintree. We don’t have an easy game, so to make the tournament is our No. 1 goal.  We came up short last year by a couple of games."

The Tigers, who dropped to 0-4 after a back-and-forth, 17-15, loss against Martha's Vineyard Monday afternoon, are hoping a mix of young talent and veteran leadership can get them over the hump.

And if they're looking for big game experience, seniors Michaela Simoneau and Kristina Simonson, who to the state Semi-Finals this year, certainly fill that role.

"Tina Simonson – number 14, she’s our center. She’s going to score her 100th goal next game," said Downs. "She’s coming up huge, so it’s going to be a pleasure to watch her and see what she can do for the rest of the season.

"Michaela Simoneau – she’s improved a lot. It’s funny because her and Tina are good friends, so it’s great to see them compete against each other to be the best. She’s going to do big things this year, especially on defense."

The seniors will have big shoes to fill.

l, who graduated last year, is the school's all-time leading scorer with over 200 career goals. Between the loss of Paul and Geena Franciosi, the Tigers have two big gaps to fill on their attack.

If Monday's loss to Martha's Vineyard is any indication, though, they'll have plenty of help from junior Clarissa Romero, whose seven goals against the Vineyarders helped keep OA in the game until the final horn.

"She’s fisty, she’s small and she’s fast," Downs said. "She’s got a hard shot. It will be good to see how she progresses throughout the season. You haven’t seen her name in the paper last year or the year before so she’s really going to shine this year as a junior."

Sophomore goalie Tori Cole will also look to step up this season. Cole is replacing Meaghan Morris, who graduated last year.

Downs said Cole has already made an impact this season.

"We also lost our starting goalie," she said. "We lost some key players, but Tori Cole is stepping up huge this year. She is a sophomore so she’s our starting goalie. She made a couple of great saves this game."

While Downs said the schedule has been difficult and will continue to be hard, the Tigers will make strides towards improvement.

Against 2-0 Martha's Vineyard Monday, the Tigers were tied 8-8 at the half and 13-13 with 7:13 left to play. While the Vineyarders ran away with the game in the final minutes, OA hung strong until the end.

"Martha’s Vineyard is a very good team," Downs said. "We came into it knowing we were the underdogs, so it was huge knowing that we could play with them. We have to play Mansfield, Franklin and KP so it was a good test for us to see where we are in our season because we had a rough start. We had a couple of hard games so its good that we improved and we can stay with them for most of the game."

OA will look for its first 'W' Wednesday afternoon when the Tigers travel to take on Davenport Division foe Sharon.

Follow the Oliver Ames girls' lacrosse team all season on our Tiger Tally scoreboard.