As the team warmed up, nerves and excitement intermingled, reaching a crescendo as the girls set up for the draw and the whistle echoed across the field for the first time.
“I was really excited to start our first games of the year, and it was really fun,” offensive captain senior Elsa Neal said. “We may have lost, but we tried our hardest and learned what we need to improve on.”
CWL played two games, first against Mehlville JV (3-5) and the second against Wentzville Varsity (1-14).
The game against Mehlville JV was an invigorating forty minutes, as the two teams were evenly matched. While this was Mehlville’s first year to field a team, over half the girls on CWL had never played a lacrosse game before April 7. Neal made one of three goals, and Hickman High School sophomore Brittan Bennet made the other two. This was Bennet’s first year on the team and first time on the field. All the players on CWL agreed that she was the most valuable player of the first game.
The second game, however, was against a seasoned rival. CWL defense had to quickly adapt to Wentzville Varsity’s tactics and managed to prevent several shots on goal. Sophomore Hannah Cajandig made the single goal of the game.
At one point, the Wentzville goalie left her goal circle. While the goalie was running down the field, she charged into CWL captain senior Jessica Jost.
“I got run over by the goalie. She came out of the goal and was running down the field, so I set up to defend her. I don’t think she was looking where she was going at all; she just ran me right over,” Jost said. “I got carried off the field and the ambulance came for me. I wasn’t hurt too badly, just dazed, and I had a killer headache. The biggest issue for me was calming my breathing down. My heart rate was really fast, and that was scary. After that I was okay, just sore.”
While CWL lost both of their games, they viewed the day as a learning experience for the rest of the season and were ready to integrate what they had learned into their practices.
“The team played well, and we kept each others’ spirits up,” offensive player junior Shelby Richardson said. “We’ve shaken off the loss and we are ready for a good week of practice.”
CWL will have home games at Cosmo Park April 14 at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Games will be played all day, but those are the times CWL will be playing.
By Kira Lubahn
