Lady Vikings Conquer in Lacrosse Season Opener

Like their Nordic namesakes who once braved the high seas, Schreiber High School's Lady Vikings braved exceptionally intense winds on Wednesday afternoon to defeat the Island Trees Lady Dogs, 17–5, in the opening game of their Conference III lacrosse season.

"We're going to try some new strategies that should wow other teams and catch them off guard," said coach Raquel Piraino prior to Wednesday's game.

The new strategies seemed to have worked as the Lady Vikings were up 9-0 within the first 10 minutes of the game and their opponent hadn't ventured into its offensive end of the field to attempt a shot on goal.

Sophomore midfielder Chrissy Commons, who had a hat trick on the day, said she was proud of her efforts and the efforts of her teammates. "All of us try to control the offense, allowing for the team to make more controlled shots and show newer team members the ropes," Commons said.

Ropes were certainly shown and the Lady Vikings had their opponents on them, going up a commanding 12–1 at the end of the first half.

Junior attacker Alexa Froccaro said that she and her cousin Jackie Froccaro, a fellow attacker, have been on the other end of a lopsided first game of the season and that the Lady Vikings' domination was a welcome change for them.

"We got pummeled when Jackie and I first started [on varsity] two years ago," Alexa said. "So it's definitely a good feeling to start the season this way, especially for new players."

The Lady Vikings' offense and defense were both cooking on all cylinders all game long, and while the winds calmed down late in the second half, the team didn't let up at all.

"We never try to get comfortable when we have the lead," Jackie said.

Alexa added, "We keep ourselves in the game and just play every minute as if the score is 0–0."

Alexa led the team with 10 points on six goals and four assists while Jackie had three goals, two assists and won eight faceoffs in her first game back since having surgery on a torn ACL.

"I'm happy to be back," Jackie said. "It feels great to be playing with my teammates again."

Coach Piraino attributed the season-opening win to an overall team effort.

"Everyone contributed and it resulted in a victory," Piraino said to her team after the game.

The Lady Vikings look to continue their winning ways at home this Saturday against Seaford High School at 10 a.m.

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