Lighting the lamp!

By Aaron Skomial

After the first two games of the year, the Hartland women’s lacrosse team has scored 43 goals and has given up just 13 goals. On a night where Northville was expected to be a challenge, they walked into buzz saw. Hartland managed to score 19 goals by halftime and at the end of the game, the score read 27-2. 

The second half of the game was about ball control and working on specific skills.  Coach Gutteridge had the team focus on stalling, running certain offensive sets, and shifting offensive players to defense and vice versa.  It was not only an opportunity to work on things in a game setting; it was an opportunity to work on roster flexibility for the long haul.

The night managed to provide 11 different players scoring a goal.  Ryan Skomial led all scorers with 7 goals and 5 assists.  Natalie Sochaki continued her early season success with 4 goals. Rachael Sharpe and Rachel Gibbs each contributed with a hat trick by then end of the game. Courtney Lee, Haley Crouse, and Amber Crouse all added two goals each. Maggie Hogan, Taylor Pryde, Annie Quinn, and Ashley Collins contributed with a goal each. 

Ball control was the name of the game. Draw controls were dominated by Hartland and they managed to move the ball efficiently up and down the field.  They also showed patience and smart passing in the offensive end of the field.  The team managed to dominate the game by controlling the pace of play and ball control.

The defense played well and didn’t see much action.  As usual, the defense was suffocating.  Any time Northville had possession, Hartland was on the ball carrier playing defense with two or three players. Northville had an extremely hard time of holding onto or passing the ball with any precision.  The identity of this defense is hustle. They want the ball and they give it all they have to keep the ball out of the scoring areas.

Now that the first three games are completed, what do we have? We have a scrappy bunch of girls who have heart and work well as a team. Spring break brings two weeks of inactivity. 

The next game is April 18 at 7pm against Grand Blanc at home. Considering the history between these two teams, it will be a very good game.

Come by and see something special.

Junior Varsity

Apparently there seems to be a competition between JV and the elder statesman on Varsity. JV continued to hammer opponents by beating Northville 18-2 last night. The JV squad moves to 3-0 on the season and looks to stay undefeated.  Grand Blanc will visit on April 18^th at 5:30pm looking to knock off this special group of players.