East Providence Girls' Lacrosse Opens Today At Home Against Cumberland

Last spring, the East Providence varsity girls lacrosse squad went right to the brink of winning a Division Three state title.

“We lost two games each to North Providence and South Kingstown last year,” said head coach Liz Balasco of the successful 2010 campaign. “They we lost to South Kingstown (15-10) in the finals.”

But 2011 presents a formidable, if not daunting task for the veteran coach and her players. To climb as high this season means doing so with many new and inexperienced players. As they open their season today against Cumberland at home, it will be at a higher and more competitive level.

“We are in Division Two this year with Cumberland, who I heard should be strong; along with Lincoln, Classical, Lincoln, Cranston East, Mt. St. Charles, North Providence and Scituate,” said Balasco, who was encouraged by 35 girls trying out and tried to keep as many as possible.

“We are very young, but we also have four returning players,” the coach said. Besides senior attack Megan Andrade, three other key returnees are goalie Sarah Duarte, attack Alex Amaral and defensive wing Jillian Estrella.

There are no captains on this year’s squad and that is all by design.  "I am teaching all of them how to be captains and leaders,” Balasco said. “This helps improve team discipline and team play.”

Andrade, who also played volleyball, said “we lost half our team from last year, so I am trying my best to help younger girls to get used to the game. We do have a few good shooters.” 

Duarte, the last line of defense, is prepared to be stronger than ever. “The freshmen and sophomores are getting better, but I know as they learn how to pass and catch better, that I will have to step up and play better this year,” she said.

Switching from center to attack this season, Alex Amaral is adjusting to her new position. “Playing attack involves less running but you have be ready around the goal,” she said. “We are focusing a lot on teamwork and team things and getting everyone getting together.”

Estrella, while starting as a defensive wing, said she is pretty versatile. “I mostly play defense but I can go up to play attack, too.”

Besides this solid four-player foundation, the team is also being molded around several other players. That includes junior midfielder Tara Andrade and three promising freshmen, center Logan Fontes, attack Erica Dias and defensive wing Jillian Amaral and other fast-improving underclassmen.

Balasco was coaching girls soccer and girls lacrosse at La Salle Academy before she accepted an offer to coach girls lacrosse at East Providence. Soon after, when asked by East Providence High School Athletic Director Paul Amaral to coach lacrosse, she agreed to coach the same sports again here.

Currently a dental hygienist and athletic trainer, Balasco starred in basketball at St. Mary Academy-Bay View, then became a college lacrosse All-American at Plymouth State College. Some might also recognize her as being a girls basketball official.

Becoming state runnerup was a huge step forward for the program. Last year’s players included several All-Division caliber standouts and team role players: Megan Gouveia, Jessica Amaral, Kerri Soderberg, Molly Kazarian and Shantal Montes.

“Lacrosse is a team game,” she said. “There is a lot of passing and it is all about connections and transition from defense to offense and back.”

Balasco says athletes from other sports can bring many skills that are well-suited to this high-action sport with a fast traveling and very hard ball.

“I look for athletes who have good hand-eye coordination and players in basketball and volleyball have those types of skills,” she said. “But I also look for those who paying attention and can focus,” she says of a girls and boys sport still very much in the developing stage in this part of the country.

But the quality of play always hinges on one key component: moving the ball up and down the field with a stick and a net. Learning how to pick up the ball or to catch and cradle it without dropping it or being jarred loose takes practice — lots of it. And at a practice Monday on a rainy, cold and blustery afternoon, a lot of time was spent just on that one aspect alone.

“We have some an offense and some set plays, but sometimes at this level that can break down,” the coach conceded.

Balasco is concerned about a bad trend she says has developed in recent years, at least at the high school level. “I wish the game was being played the same way it was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. It is rougher than it is supposed to be, so it is getting harder to shoot and make shots.”

While the Townies mentor takes her coaching seriously, and even has the games video-taped so the squad can review what they are doing right and wrong, there is a fun aspect. “We have them come over for a pizza party every week,” she said.

One of Balasco’s biggest challenges is long term. “We have no feeder system yet in the town and I would love to run a lacrosse camp here,” she says.

“We ask other girls if they want to try it out,” said Estrella, who along with her teammates, act as ambassadors in the school for a rapidly growing and popular sport. “It would be a good idea to get the town to have a recreational program because they would pick up the game more quickly. The first thing most of us heard about it (lacrosse) is when we get here.”

Finally, Balasco has another goal than just sharing her love and knowledge of the game and making the team as competitive as possible in league play. It is to encourage players to dream of making and accomplish another go to the next level. “Women’s lacrosse is a great game to play at the collegiate level,” she said.