Student-Athlete Journal

Editor's Note: Junior midfielder and team tri-captain Sarah Slafkosky of the Sea Gull women's lacrosse team provided an online journal during the 2004 season. The Sea Gulls enjoyed a 16-3 season while advancing to the national semifinals of the NCAA Championship Tournament.

Final Entry: May 18

Now that I am a few days removed from Saturday’s heartbreak, I can take a few steps back, look at the season on a whole and feel the overwhelming pride and happiness that it has given me.  It is always difficult when something ends and I have struggled finding a way to write about the ending of this phenomenal season, so I have decided to end this season’s journal with something that I wrote for the Final Four banquet this past weekend:

Somewhere along the way, each game stopped being played just for fun.  Somewhere we started playing each game for much, much more. . .

For our parents, who were the first to know that we were born with the hearts of champions because without them we would not be what we are today.

For our 6 a.m. workouts, being up to catch the sunrise and the very first morning frost in the fall.

For our school, whose name we wear proudly across our chest, a place we’ve come to call home.

For the endless pre-season spent bundled up with chapped lips and runny noses.

For our trainers, who are out there before us and after us each day, even at 2 a.m. if we need them; anything to make sure that we are ok.

For Coach and his loud whistle, the numerous broken clip boards, the many trips to the end line, and the near heart attacks that we have inflicted upon him.

For our brothers and sisters, our first backyard competitors, the ones that taught us to be strong and tough but can offer us comfort and support like no one else when we feel that our strength is lacking.

For the hours upon hours of grueling practices spent in the blistering cold, pouring rain, or relentless heat.

For the alumni, who made this program what it is today.

For the bruised arms, calloused feet, and unbelievably attractive tan lines.

For our coaches, who believe in us even in the moments when our confidence is faltering, they are the ever-present motivation and support that keep our minds’ sharp and our heads up.

For our wins and even our disappointing losses, because in each of these games we have grown and become stronger.

For our team captains, who fearlessly lead us into battle each game.

For all of our frustrations, because without them we would not know the sweet satisfaction that comes with overcoming a challenge.

For our seniors, three girls we have come to admire, fall in love with, and feel sick to our stomachs when we think about not having them on the field with us next year.

For each time we have felt that we didn’t have anything else in us, but somehow found that deep down, we have the will to go even harder.

For yourself, your love of the game, your thrills, your pride, your competitive edge, and yes, still of course, because you are having fun.

For being able to stumble, fall, get up, help, lean, talk and listen because we have a team with us every step of the way.

But most of all, for each other, our teammates, 30 girls that have been through it all together, the wins, the losses, the frustrations, the triumphs, the thrills, the exhaustion, the pain, the growth, the heart breaks, the tears, the laughter, the friendships, and still even more laughter, who when the final whistle has been blown can walk away with something much greater than had ever been imagined and this we can keep with us for the rest of our lives.

Entry #13: May 11

Just like the rest of my team, I was born a competitor.  From day one, the desire to compete was in my blood.  I owe this for the most part to my Dad.  He has passed it on to my brothers and me.  There is not much that you can do around the Slafkosky household that isn’t turned into an all-out competitive battle, with our peace keeping Momma Slaf attempting to act as a referee.  We have learned the incredible thrill of competition from him.  He won a national championship when he played at Hopkins and I want, more than anything else, to be part of a team that wins one too.  Now, at the end of my junior year, we sit two games away from just that.  It is right there and we get a shot at it! The entire team is overwhelmed with excitement. 

In an email that I opened from my Dad today, he asked me to remind the girls to “Relax, breathe in and out.  Have fun.”  This advice seems so simple but is much needed. This past weekend we could have used it as well.  This weekend was amazing.  Our emotions were at an all time high and at times I think that we really did need to stop and remember to breathe.  We put it all out on the field because we knew that if we didn’t, there would be no second chances, no next game, no tomorrow, it would be over. Knowing this, it was also important to remember to calm down and do what we do best: have fun out there playing with one another because when we do this, we are successful.

On Saturday in our Sweet Sixteen match-up against a scrappy Cabrini squad, we dominated them 18-7.  Before the game, Liz Funk passed the rope along to senior attacker Jessie White.  Jessie has been a crucial part of our offense for the past few years.  She is a finisher and always helps to get numbers on the board for Salisbury.  Jessie and Liz are very close and Liz talked about how much she has looked up to Jessie and learned from her.

Unfortunately, during the Cabrini game while Liz was running the ball to the goal on a fast break she got knocked down and messed up her knee pretty badly.  She will not be able to play for the rest of this season and it is devastating for all of us.  Just last entry, I talked about the spark Liz adds for us on the field.  We are sad that she can’t be out there with us right now.  But, many of us have told her, everything that we do from now on will be for her and we will work our hearts out to light up the field the way that she does so well.

The next day, nerves were a great deal tighter because we were playing the Elite Eight round against a talented Gettysburg squad.  All season we have been ranked #4 nationally with Gettysburg nipping at our heels in the #5 spot the entire time.  We knew that it was going to be a challenge because both of us have speed, skills, and talent.  Coach stressed to us that the team that would win would be the team that played smarter.

During the pre-game huddle, Regan Miller asked to talk for a minute.  She transferred in as a junior this year from Old Dominion and captured one of the starting roles as a low defender.  She told us how she was anxious coming in as a junior and had been unsure how she would be welcomed onto the team.  She teared up when she thanked us for making her feel so welcome.  She said that she hadn’t been part of a team like this before and it is the best feeling to be part of one now. 

Jessie jumped in when she finished because she had been planning on passing the rope along to Regan anyway.  She recognized the difficulty of transferring and how Regan did an incredible job with it.  Regan didn’t just walk into a starting spot.  She came here and really earned it.  Every single day, she goes out to practice early to work on her game with the goalies.  It is this sort of extra effort that allows her to be so great.

During the first half of the game, we really played some great “Salisbury lacrosse.”  We capitalized on each possession and were tenacious on defense.  Jessica Froats was once again assigned to the other team’s stud and she really did a number on that girl.  I think we took Gettysburg out of their game and forced them to attempt to play our's.  At the end of first half we were up 5-1. 

However, Gettysburg was not ready to roll over that quickly and they came out with some fire for the second half.  We struggled a little, but with Ali in the goal keeping us alive, we were able to hang onto our lead.  We never allowed them to get closer than two goals. 

We finished the game with an 8-5 victory, giving us all a ticket to the Final Four next weekend in Rochester, New York!  There, we will finally get a shot at some sweet revenge against TCNJ on Saturday.  We are more than ready for the challenge and are anxiously awaiting this opportunity.  We are ready to prove to the world what we have known all along: WE ARE CHAMPIONS!  We have been chasing this dream all season and this weekend we get a shot to make it a reality.

Entry #12: May 4

We finished up the regular season with a bang, making sure that we took control of every part of the NCAA selection that we possibly could.  If the selection committee needed reasons to give us the opportunity to host for playoffs, we made sure that we gave them every single reason that we could.  We went 14-2 this season, winning our conference and having our only two losses coming from top three nationally ranked teams. And now with those two games behind us, they only serve as a massive amount of motivation to capture some sweet, sweet revenge during playoffs.

Going into this week, we simply needed to finish this season off with two more quality wins and that is exactly what we did.  First we started off with a little Eastern Shore battle against Washington College, giving the Shorewomen a beating of 15-4.  Before this game, Amber passed along the rope to sophomore attacker Amanda Tack (pictured). 

I think that Tack has one of the absolute best attitudes on the team.  Since last year, Tack has improved her game tremendously.  She worked very hard to make these improvements and her playing time has shown this.  We returned our entire starting line-up for attack this spring, however Tack was completely undaunted by this factor and made sure that she could not be overlooked this spring either.  She very deservingly earned herself quality time and a very important role on our team.  I also believe that Tack is one of our smartest players.  She is a student of the game.  This type of mentality is exactly what coach stresses to each of us, day in and day out.

Our final regular season game was Saturday against Rowan.  Since it was the last regular season home game that meant it was our senior game as well.  Friday night we had put cups throughout the fence that lines our field, spelling out ‘we love you’ as a message to our seniors.  As we marched out to the field in our two lines and the message came into view we began singing and screaming to our seniors.  At this point it became apparent that this was going to be an emotional day for some of us.  

We only have three seniors this year: Jessie White, Amber Stansbury, and Kelly Murphy.  Although this is such a small senior class, they are an incredibly humongous part of our team.  We recognized them before the game, handing out gifts and some teary-eyed hugs. We get upset because in a perfect world we would all like to think that this team and our lacrosse careers would never end.  It is hard to accept that there will be a time that we will have to say goodbye to it all.  But, luckily there is so much that we can take away from it with us.

I think that all this emotion carried into the game more than it should have and we struggled during the first half.  But, after halftime, we had all gotten our acts together, we took off and never looked back.  The final score was 16-6 and we were satisfied that we could hand the seniors a solid victory in their honor.       

Another person that was recognized before the game was sophomore attacker Liz Funk.  Tack passed the rope along to her and recognized how much Liz has improved as well.  Tack said that even though they are the same age, she really looks up to Liz.  Liz is always ready to light things up for our team.  She is one of the first girls to come in off of the bench because she is hard working and ball hungry.  She is not afraid to drive hard to the goal or to ferociously dive for a ground ball.  Because of this, it is not surprising to find Liz on the ground or tangled up with a competitor many times throughout a game.  This is exactly the type of spark that we need in our game a lot of days and our “Lizzie-baby” helps to make sure that it gets there.

Sunday night, we met at the gym to find out what the brackets for NCAA’s are going to look like.  We all anxiously awaited this discovery all day long and are enthusiastic about the results.  Our hard work paid off and we will be hosting the sweet sixteen and elite eight rounds next weekend.  This home field advantage is crucial.  We will all struggle concentrating on our studies this week because we are on the 100% “lax or die” mentality right now and cannot wait to take our first step in the playoffs against Cabrini on Saturday.

Entry #11: April 27

We set two very big goals for ourselves at the beginning of the season and this past Sunday we reached the first one: we won the CAC Championship!  Even though we gave our fans and coaches a little scare on Tuesday in the semifinal round by just squeaking past a feisty Mary Washington squad, we turned our game back on and played some really nice “Salisbury lacrosse” against St. Mary’s to capture the championship game.

Before the Mary Washington game, Sarah Davis passed the rope along to sophomore midfielder Jess Wirth.  Our only lefty on the squad, Wirth, is a work horse every day, no matter whether it is a practice or game day.  She has come a very long way since last season because of her awesome work ethic and it shows in the amount of playing time she has earned this season.  She is a big part of the high intensity level that we hold at our practices and helps us to raise this level even higher everyday.

Although we beat Mary Wash rather handily in the regular season, we had some trouble on Tuesday.  It was a rather flat day for every member of the team and we almost caused our parents in the stands and coaches on the sidelines to have a heart attack because we let the game get a bit too close.  We snuck away with the win though, with a final score of 9-8.

Coach seriously reminded us that we will not go very far in play offs if we play like we did in that game and I think that game served as a pretty good wake-up call.  We followed it with a few days of intense practice and made sure that we were ready to play the championship game at another level.

During our pre-game chalk talk coach set up a team bonding activity.  We each partnered up and then took turns leading each other around the floor of the gym.  One partner would keep her eyes closed while the other directed her on where to go and kept her safe from colliding into one of her other active “blind teammates” or possibly even a stationary wall.  The activity reminded us that we need to trust each other and look out for one another on the field.  We cannot do everything by ourselves.  We need to trust each other to get each of our jobs done and also know that we can rely on each other to help us accomplish our job as well.

This concept is what allows us to do so well on the field.  We beat teams because every single person out there is helping one another.  Our wins are always team wins, capturing the true meaning of the word team.  This is exactly why we played so well on Sunday.  Everyone was supportive of one another and every single person had a very important hand in the win.  Once again, eight people scored in the 15-8 championship victory.  And not to be left out, our defense did a tremendous job as well, especially in the second half by holding St. Mary’s to only two goals.

Before this game, Wirth passed the rope along to senior attacker Amber Stansbury (pictured at right with fellow captains Slafkosky and Murphy).  Wirth spoke about the tremendous amount of respect she has for Amber and how she takes on so much responsibility for this team.  Personally, I am in awe of Amber.  She blew out her knee right before playoffs last year.  Since then she has worked unbelievably hard to get back onto the field.  If I were to tally the amount of time she has spent in the training room or at rehab, I think I would have to stop because I am not sure that I can count that high.  That she has made such a sacrifice and commitment to get better through such a frustrating injury shows just how much she loves lacrosse and all of us.  We are so grateful to have such an inspiring teammate and captain, and although we know you get discouraged Am, we think you are so amazing and we love you for it!

I found a quote that describes where we are at this point in the season pretty well: “At last the ladder which had been built slowly, slowly, one hope at a time, was built and the dreamers began to climb.” We have climbed a long way so far and we are very satisfied with our accomplishment this past week, but don’t you worry, we are not stopping here!  We want to climb higher!  

There are two more regular season games this week and then the NCAA Tournament bracket will be posted.  In winning the conference championship, we made a huge step up our ladder and as long as we win this week, it gives us a pretty good shot at hosting during the beginning of NCAAs.  We are fired up and we are not ready to stop until we get to our big goal that is still a good ways up the ladder from here!         

Entry #10: April 19

We only had one game this past week, against Villa Julie on Thursday at home, and we were finally ready to try out our new dreaded eyewear during the game.  The NCAA has mandated eyewear for the playoffs this year, so we need to get used to them fast.  We do all understand that this new rule is for our own safety, however we are not very thrilled about it at all.  The goggles are a bit annoying since we are not accustomed to playing with them yet, but didn’t seem to hinder our play and we dominated Villa Julie from the first whistle all the way until the last.  Again, a large number of us found the back of the net with thirteen of us scoring in the 22-3 win.

During warm-ups, Ani passed the rope along to sophomore defender Sarah Davis.  Sarah and I have a special connection.  The two of us are the shortest girls on the team.  One time last year while Sarah and I were doing a one vs. one, coach asked us, “What is this, 4 foot 9 lacrosse over here?”  Ever since then, Sarah and I joke that we have our own special club that we call the 4 foot 9 lax team and that all the other girls only wish they could be in it with us. 

On the other hand, the stereotype of a typical low defender is that they are the big girls on the team.  But at the beginning of the season when one of the starting spots on low defense was up for grabs, Sarah worked her heart out to earn that spot. And believe me, although she is such a tiny girl, you would not want to be marked by her in a game.  Senior attacker Amber Stansbury knows this all too well because she is faced with the challenge every day in practice and she claims that Sarah is our “secret weapon” because she looks so sweet and cute but then when you try to get by her she is unbelievably strong and fast.  Sarah also has an amazing ability to read the game.  She blows me away many times during games when she will make an unbelievable steal or interception.  Sarah is proof that what they say is true, “it is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog!”

The day before the game, a couple of the midfielders put coach up to playing a joke on the rest of the team.  So, at the end of practice we got him to announce that since we were going to actually be wearing the goggles in a game, we needed to make sure that we are used to them. So he wanted us to wear them around campus the entire next day, to all of our classes and absolutely everything that we would be doing.  Everyone’s faces were classic while they imagined how they were going to look while tromping around campus with a cage over their eyes.

I must add that this was not the only prank that was executed last week.  Amber, Kelly Murphy, and I sought out our revenge on a pair of sneaky sophomores that thought it was funny to play some prank phone calls on us a few months ago. 

We have a list of team rules that the team made together and agreed to follow, along with an agreement that if anyone ever breaks a team rule that we will handle it together as a team.  The punishment is that whoever broke the rule must stand on the end line and watch, as the rest of the team has to run suicides.  The idea is that everything that we do affects our entire team.  Of course, this has never been an issue because no one on the team would ever break the rules out of respect for one another.

So, with our assistant coach Meggle’s seal of approval, we decided to carry out our payback joke on Friday before practice.  It went a little like this: Linda Ackerman, Emily Dutch, and I were hiding in the white equipment house with water guns and water balloons while Amber and Kelly called the team over for a talk.  They announced that they had been informed that two people had broken a team rule, and continued by saying how disappointed and angry they were.  Everyone on the team wracked their brains and glanced around nervously wondering who on our team would possibly do such a thing!  Then they announced that Caitlin Hudgins and Katy Funk were the two alleged rule breakers and that they didn’t want to talk to them about what had happened; the two just needed to go stand below the white house while everyone else lined up on the end line.

Their faces were absolutely hysterical as they walked over to the house, all the while they argued that this wasn’t fair because they would never break a team rule and who was the person that had “reported them?”  Once they were under the house and everyone else was on the end line, Emily, Linda, and I opened the window and began nailing them with water balloons.  They suddenly realized that they had been set-up and began yelling and laughing at the same time. After a good laugh and all was said and done, they can’t possibly deny that they didn’t learn an important lesson: an underclassman should never, ever mess with an upper classman.    

Entry #9: April 12

We all knew going into last week’s games that in order for us to host the conference tournament, we needed to beat both Mary Washington and St. Mary’s, two of our biggest conference rivals.  Before each game, coach asked us, “Do you want to travel or do you want to stay at home?!” And with a big smile on my face, I can report that we will be staying at home next week during the Capitol Athletic Conference tournament.

We were well prepared for Mary Wash, so on Tuesday we all felt confident going into the game.  We knew what we all needed to do and we were ready to get our job done.  In the pre-game huddle, I passed the rope along to sophomore midfielder Jess Froats.  In many of our games, Froats is given the task of shutting down the other team’s top player.  A lot of people don’t realize how difficult this can be.  

Froats, who is never one to get intimidated, takes on this demanding task with a fearless attitude and determined heart.  Because of this we are all extremely confident that she will take whatever victim out of their game all together, which is a key part in helping our team capture a victory.  But, not only is Froats an important part of our team because of her physical ability on the field, she is a huge part of our team chemistry as well.  She tends to be a bit outspoken at times, which leaves her at the grunt of many of our jokes.  Even coach enjoys picking fun at the sole New Yorker on the squad.  Of course, it is always in good fun and only someone with such an awesome personality as Froats could handle all of this heat so well.  I think my mom said it best when she used to comfort me after my brothers would tease me when I was little, “They wouldn’t tease you if they didn’t love you,” and we all do love you, Jessica Froats!

Well, Froats was assigned to shutting down Mary Wash’s top playmaker and she definitely excelled in this assignment.  Froats shut her down and the poor girl could barely even see the ball let alone touch it the entire game.  Everyone else did a spectacular job as well.  It was a great, full 60 minutes of lacrosse!  The final score was 18-4 and once again there were many girls that had a hand in those 18 goals, with seven of us having two or more goals apiece.  With that win under our belt, we moved forward and began to prepare for St. Mary’s.

Saturday, before the game, Froats passed the rope along to freshman midfielder Ani Khatchatoorian.  So far, Ani has been the only freshman that has gotten playing time in a lot of our big games.  It can be very scary to be thrown out there by yourself with a bunch of girls that have at the least been playing with each other for over a year.  Froats recognized this and admired Ani for her ability to jump out there with us and do such a great job.  

Like Froats, Ani does not let anything intimidate her and she works her heart out to improve herself everyday.  I am especially impressed with this desire to improve.  She is not afraid to ask questions or ask for help.  Many times throughout the week she will approach older girls and ask them about something that she is unsure of or how they do something that is successful for them.  This wonderful attitude and desire is an integral part of the success that Ani has had this season and makes me so proud to have her as a rookie on this team.  

We were victorious against St. Mary’s as well, with a final score of 11-7.  I was particularly impressed with our aggressiveness while riding the ball throughout the game.  Because we worked so hard on our rides, we caused many turnovers and did not have to play that much defense, especially in the second half.  This is something that we have worked really hard on in practice and understand that it makes a huge difference in our games.  It takes a lot of hustle on our part, but is crucial in helping us to wear down the opposing team so that we can play “our game.”  

Entry #8: April 6

Well, we had a nice, healthy dose of the usual, glorious Salisbury spring weather this past week, with pretty much every day being chilly, gray, and wet.  If you go to Salisbury and play lacrosse, you learn just how to keep the pocket of your stick well adjusted after relentless days of rain and that “the weather is never an excuse!”  

Some of us have more trouble than others with these inescapable rainy days.  Emily Dutch, a junior midfielder, has yet to make peace with our muddy field on such a day.  It is a big team joke that we are guaranteed that Emily will end up on the ground numerous times throughout practice and she will be the first to acknowledge and poke fun at this predicament.  Last week she announced that she was taking bets as to how many times she would “eat it” during practice, and throughout the week we kept a tally.  After practice on Friday she could be found icing the bruises that she had acquired during her many dangerously hysterical collapses throughout the week.  However, the wet field seemed to be Emily’s only successful antagonist because she still managed to have two well-played games, helping the rest of the team to beat Randolph Macon and Frostburg rather handily. 

Before the Randolph Macon game, Whitney passed the rope along to attacker, Lynsey Bateman.  Whitney recognized that Lynsey had contributed to every single goal in the hard fought Middlebury game, with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Lynsey is one of our most consistent players, currently leading the team in total points.  She is also a very good model of hard work and patience for everyone to follow.  Although Lynsey is definitely not one of the most vocal girls on our team, she provides wonderful leadership through her actions and continuous support for everyone.  Of course, Lynsey continued her successful scoring campaign in this game as well, contributing 3 goals and 1 assist in the 18-3 win over Randolph Macon.

On Saturday, before the Frostburg game, Lynsey passed the rope along to me.  I was extremely complimented when she said that she thinks that I am very motivational.  At the end, she added that I am always making them laugh as well and this brought a big smile to my face because I think being able to laugh is one of the most important things in not just lacrosse, but life as well.  Our team has a wonderful atmosphere because we all enjoy each other so much. 

Just in last week’s entry I was saying that everything we do together is always filled with laughter whether it is over, lets just say, one of our teammates' sense of balance or in our silly and ridiculous conversations on our many long bus trips.  We work hard and take this game seriously but we have not forgotten how to have fun while doing it either.

We dominated Frostburg, winning 16-6.  There were ten different girls on the team that put the ball into the back of the net throughout the game.  It is always so nice when this happens because it means that everyone is having a part in the win, showing just how much of a “team” win it is.

We are approaching a very crucial week of lacrosse for our conference.  We play Mary Washington this afternoon in Virginia and then St. Mary’s on Saturday, which is an away game as well.  The results of this week’s games will impact whether we host during the conference tournament.  I feel that we are up and ready for the challenge, now we just have to make sure that we get it done!  

Entry #7: March 29

Honestly, we all grumbled a liiiiiiiiiil’ bit about being stuck in Salisbury when the rest of the spring sports teams went away to places like Florida and California for spring break.  But, the truth is we still had a great time together.  Simply put, it does not matter where we are, if the entire team is together we always have an awesome time filled with many can’t hardly breath, stomach hurts, tears forming laughs. 

Over the break, we proved a lot to ourselves in a close loss to Middlebury and are gunning for the rematch in playoffs.  The rope got passed along to freshman midfielder Whitney Schoch for her hard work and quiet, yet full-hearted hustle.  We took the motto, “lax is life, the rest is just details” to another level with double sessions and film sessions squeezed into almost every waking hour.  We faced our fears while climbing on ropes in trees forty feet above ground at the Beyond the Limits rope course, proving to ourselves just how much setting goals and team support can accomplish.  And we had a blast playing against our dear OLD teammates in the alumni scrimmage and then hanging out with them afterwards.

It was an eventful spring break and there are many things that I could focus on for this journal entry, but this week I am choosing to make it a little more personal.  Last Tuesday, March 23rd was a big day for me, for two reasons: 1. We were playing #1 ranked Middlebury at College Park, and 2. It marked the year anniversary of the death of my good friend, PJ Schafer.  

PJ is a friend of mine from high school who died suddenly during a lacrosse game last spring.  He had been playing for CCBC at the time and was transferring to Salisbury to play lacrosse here this year.  I often think of PJ and how sad it makes me that he cannot be here with us.  Salisbury would have loved him because there is absolutely no way that anyone could possibly resist doing so.  Ever since last spring, I wear a headband with PJ and a heart stitched into it in all of my games.  PJ had the biggest, most wonderful heart ever and everything he did he put all of that heart into.  I wear the headband in honor of him and as a personal reminder to follow his example. 

We had a tough start against Middlebury, dropping to 5-0 just ten minutes into the contest.  And during a timeout as we all looked around the field at one another, eyes about to pop out and tongues in the back of our throat, I had a thought, ‘why are we out here playing anyway?’  The answer is very simple but somewhere in between all of the practices, rankings, and traveling we tend to lose sight of it.  We play because we love it!  Because when we started, many of us were just little squirts and didn’t even understand what was going on, but played because it was fun and then somewhere along the line we started to love this game. 

I know when I began it was because my dad coached and my older brother played and if they liked lacrosse then I sure would too.  My dad had put me in the boys' league so my older brother Dan, my first back yard competitor, was also my first rec league teammate.  The only reason that we played together then was because we had fun with it.  In fact, I had so much fun that I fell in love with the sport and now thirteen years later I am even deeper in love with the game than ever.  I have found that one of the greatest benefits is that I have made life-long friends and it all started because my teammates and I shared something in common, we love lacrosse.  We love it so much that we are willing to sacrifice an enormous amount of time and energy so that we can still play the game that we fell in love with years ago.

Entry #6: March 22

Last Wednesday, we all boarded the bus once again for another away game.  We were off to play a conference match-up against Marymount.  Since it was St. Patrick’s Day, on the way there, junior Linda Ackermann handed out a very creative paper cut out picture of a leprechaun holding a shamrock.  Underneath it said, "‘Believe deep down in your heart that you’re destined to do great things.’ I believe in us…” It was a comforting reminder that in order for us to accomplish the goals that we have set for ourselves this season, it all starts with our own state of mind and our belief in one another.

Even though the official start of spring was only four days away, it was very cold outside and the sky did not look very promising that it would get any warmer.  So, we layered up and played some lax through random spurts of freezing rain, accomplishing what we had come to do: get another CAC victory under our belt.  We dominated the entire game.  And even though overall play was pretty sloppy, the final score was 13-3.

During warm-ups Mary passed on the rope to Linda.  She had been very impressed with the way Linda had stepped it up during the TCNJ game when things had started falling apart.  Linda has had at least a hat trick in every single game so far this season.  She was last season’s very deserving team MVP as a sophomore.  She is a team leader, through both her exceptional level of play and helpful motivation for all of her teammates to improve themselves as well.

Saturday, we faced Goucher, another conference opponent, and this time it was finally a home game!  We had not been at home since the season opener, almost a full month earlier.  Goucher always comes out tough and strong in the beginning and this game started off the exact same way.  But, we took control of the contest with the final score being 21-9.  Senior attacker Amber Stansbury (pictured) led the scoring with five goals but it was another solid team win since a total of ten of us found the back of the net throughout the game.   

Before this game, Linda passed the rope onto senior captain Kelly Murphy.  Linda talked about how much respect she has for Kelly.  She thanked Kelly for how hard she pushes her in practice and recognized that every day Kelly helps to make her a better player by being such an awesome hustler and aggressive defender.  Kelly is by far the team’s best communicator.  Even though she plays low defense, she can be heard all over the field and helps tremendously to keep the entire team on the same page.

All in all, this was a good week for Salisbury Women’s Lacrosse.  We moved ourselves to 3-0 in the conference.  This week, we will be hanging out in the ‘bury for spring break, with a game against # 1 ranked Middlebury on Tuesday at College Park.  This is a huge game for us and we feel ready for the challenge!   

Entry #5: March 15

Last Wednesday night, seniors Amber Stansbury and Kelly Murphy, along with juniors Linda Ackermann, Emily Dutch and I got together to make team bracelets.  The bracelets are made out of gold and maroon beads, each with a different word on it such as “battle,” “heart,” or “sisters.”  The words all come from this saying that we put together to represent our team: “By ourselves, we are only one person but when we come together we form a unit of thirty girls that are prepared for any ENEMY that dares to cross our path.  This unity does not end on the field. It goes much deeper.  We are beyond teammates.  We are sisters, who in a heartbeat are ready to do whatever it takes to win the battle for one another.  We are Salisbury Women’s Lacrosse!!!”

The idea, which we borrowed and altered from the field hockey team, is that each word has its own meaning and strength but when all of the words are put together to make up that paragraph, they become much more powerful and meaningful.  These bracelets represent each of us and were handed out on the way to The College of New Jersey as a reminder to the team that we each have our own unique strengths, but when we come together we become much greater than we could ever hope to be on our own. We knew that it was going to take every single one of us coming together in order to beat TCNJ.

During the pre-game huddle, Katy Funk passed on the rope to sophomore midfielder Mary Bateman.  Katy and Mary both went to Hereford (High School) together and have played lacrosse together ever since their rec- league days.  Katy beamed as she talked about watching Mary grow as a lacrosse player and how sometimes she catches herself just standing and watching with her mouth hanging wide open in disbelief as Mary will make an unbelievable interception and then zoom down to the other end of the field before you can hardly even realize what has happened.  Mary is definitely one of our hardest workers and challenges each of us every day to first of all KEEP UP with her and then to play with the same level of intensity that she constantly puts forth.

We started the game well, actually getting the first two points on the scoreboard with goals from Linda Ackermann and Jessie White.  It was a tight battle the entire first half, with the lead being jerked back and forth between both teams and at half time we were tied at 5-5.  Then when we walked onto the field for the second half, it seemed as if a whole different team had shown up.  Our level of play went from one complete end of the spectrum to the other.  We started breaking down mentally and it was a negative domino effect from there.  It was as though we were beating ourselves and TCNJ didn’t even have to do it.  

The one person that actually gave an outstanding performance the entire game was our goalie, Ali Goetz.  She did a phenomenal job in the cage, stopping shots that we were letting them get off on her from less than two feet away.  Ali stepped up her level of play as we all began to slip and proved to us just how mentally and physically strong she is.  

As devastating as it is to lose, there are a lot of good things that can come out of this game.  It showed us what we need to work on and that with enough hard work and smarter decisions we are completely capable of winning it the next time.  And there will definitely be a next time down the road.  I think that Amber said it best, “We may not have won the battle, but we are definitely able to win the war!”   

Entry #4: March 8

As we were arriving at Swarthmore College (where the game against Franklin & Marshall was played), I handed out a poem to all of the girls by C. W. Longenecker, titled “The Victor”.  The poem describes how “success begins with a fellow’s will” and that in the end it is all about your state of mind.  The poem ended with the lines, “Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man.  But sooner or later, the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.”  

This is a concept that Coach Nestor stresses to us all of the time.  He always reminds us that we have speed and skill but that when the big games come, the team that will win will be the team that is stronger mentally.  Franklin & Marshall was our first real challenge of the season and in order for us to win it, we were going to have to play smart.

The entire bus ride to the game, it was raining.  When we got there, the rain stopped but it was still pretty overcast.  However, right when the game began, the sun came out and it was absolutely beautiful weather for a lacrosse game.  We started the game off, just as we had wanted to, by going hard and being in their face immediately after the first whistle blew and all the way until the end of the game. It didn’t take us very long to get on the board either, with speedy transition from sophomore Mary Bateman flying down the field and feeding the ball over to me.  

Once again, the scoring was spread out all throughout the team, with five of us having two goals apiece.  We outplayed them everywhere on the field and the final score was 13-7.  I think that we were able to dominate the entire game because we took complete control in the mid-field transition with tenacious riding and smart ball movement.  Then almost simultaneously with the end of the game, the sky darkened again and it began to rain.  It was as though God had been looking out for us.

The rope was passed along during warm-ups again.  Emac (Erin McCarthy) presented the rope to sophomore defender Katy Funk.  Emac complimented Katy on her solid defense so far this season, in practice and in the past two games.  Katy has a tremendous ability to read the ball and because of this she executes some very impressive interceptions and caused turnovers.  This talent shows that Katy plays smart lacrosse, using her head in order to break down the other team as well as us every day in practice.

On the way home, we stopped by Lynsey Bateman’s house in Severna Park.  Her parents opened up their house for the whole team as well as anyone’s family members that live in that area.  It was a wonderful dinner and a very enjoyable stop.  I am from Catonsville, so my mom and younger brothers came to visit.  It was comforting to have a nice home cooked meal and to see some family for just a little while.  

Lynsey’s dad is a very talented photographer and he takes action shots at a lot of our games.  He had a whole entire table filled with pictures for us to look at or to have.  A lot of the pictures were from last season.  I found them to be very motivating because we found ourselves rehashing last year’s big games and smiling from ear to ear as we looked at pictures from the CAC championship game or other big wins from last season.  Looking at those pictures just added a little more fuel to our fire.

Entry #3: March 1

We have been diligently preparing for the 2004 season all year long and it showed in last week’s season opener against Catholic.  Not wanting to waste any time, we began tallying goals on the scoreboard not even a minute into the competition when junior Linda Ackermann rocketed one into the back of the net, off of an assist from senior Amber Stansbury.  

From that point on we never looked back.  Everyone on the team got a chance to see some action and the final score was 19-3.  The best part about the win is that there were seven girls on the team that had at least two goals apiece, which just shows how much of a “team” win it was.  We have a whole line-up of girls that are ready and capable of going hard to the goal and finishing.  I think that this will be one of our greatest strengths this season.  If an opponent tries to shut down one of our attackers, we will always have six other girls on the field that are ready to step it up and take care of the ball.

A few days later we headed down to Virginia to play Christopher Newport. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful game day, however we did not match the wonderful weather with our style of play.  If you were only comparing scores, it would look like it was very similar to the Catholic game because this contest ended with us winning 23-3.  Even though we dominated, overall we were extremely sloppy at each end of the field, especially with ground ball pick-ups.  Luckily, we were able to get away with it this time and it will serve as a reminder that we need to keep it clean against our tougher competitors or else we won’t come out on top.

After the pre-game chalk talk with coach before the first game, Amber, Kelly Murphy, and I presented a maroon and gold braided rope to sophomore goal tender Ali Goetz.  This rope represents the level of play, intensity, or hustle that one of our teammates has been exhibiting in practice everyday.  This person is helping us all by “raising the rope” which means that they are pushing the practice/game level up so that everyone else needs to work harder to step it up as well.  Somebody on the team can earn this by providing a motivating example for the rest of the team or through having a contagious and inspirational attitude.  

We chose to give Ali the rope first because she did an amazing job throughout all of preseason.  Ali is a team player and works hard to help us all improve our game, even those that are on offense.  Multiple times throughout practice, she will talk to me after I have taken a shot, telling me why it is good/bad and why it would/wouldn’t work.  She lets us see things through a goalie’s perspective and it helps us to improve our game as well as hers at the same time.  

Before the Christopher Newport game, Ali presented the rope to sophomore midfielder Erin McCarthy (“Emac”).  Since last season, Emac has worked her heart out, improving her overall game.  She has taken it to a new level and earned the spot at center.  Emac is an example for the entire team that hard work truly does pay off.  Ali also recognized Emac’s contribution in our transition game and how hard she hustles to help the ball down the field.  Emac took the rope and then continued to step up her play by scoring five goals in that afternoon’s game.

We have a full week of practice ahead of us.  Saturday we head to Franklin & Marshall.  This game will be more challenging than the past two.  We are excited for a harder contest and will use this week to make sure that we are ready for the challenge.         

This time every year we pack up our bags, look forward to the warmer, southern weather, and leave our boyfriends behind on Valentine’s Day so that we can spend the weekend doing the thing that we love the most: playing lacrosse.  We left before the sun came up on Friday morning so that we could get down there in time to practice around noon.  Practice was intense and focused.  Everyone seemed ready for the upcoming day that would be crammed packed with a variety of scrimmages.

The rookies were given a task to be performed on Friday night in the hotel.  Their task was to perform a skit for the returning players.  In the skit, the girls needed to impersonate each of the veterans on the team.  We warned them that last year’s skit had quite possibly been the funniest thing that we had ever seen, so they had a lot to live up to.  The rookies rose to the challenge and put on an absolutely hysterical skit that had everyone rolling on the ground and near tears because they were laughing so hard.

Saturday, we were up before the sun once again and ready to go!  We started the morning off at Duke with our first scrimmage scheduled against team Canada, however they didn’t show so we had an inner-squad scrimmage instead.  After that, we picked up a game against Anne Arundel Community College. Then we headed to UNC to play a one-hour scrimmage against Washington & Lee.  The next two scrimmages were against Greensboro and Roanoke. Then we finished up the day by scrimmaging Washington & Lee again.

At the end of the day, we were exhausted but undefeated.  Everyone that got on the field put forth impressive hustle and play.  We got to see where our strength lies, as well as the areas that we need to improve before the season begins.  I think that the scrimmages were particularly helpful for our defense because that is the area where we are filling the gaps left from last year’s graduates.  There are quite a few girls doing a tremendous job of stepping up for those spots.  Overall, I think our highpoints from the scrimmages were communication, transition game, and riding the ball hard after missed shots or turnovers.

After a victorious weekend, we are ready to return to pushing one another each day during practice.  We have a week and a half until our first game against Catholic on February 25th at 3:30 p.m.  Until then we will be working hard every day at practice so that we will have what it takes to enjoy a successful 2004 season!  

This past Sunday, we all shared our love of the game with some younger Salisbury area girls by working a clinic at the Civic Center with Coach Nestor.  Afterwards, we had decided to do a scavenger hunt as a team building activity.  The captains, Amber Stansbury, Kelly Murphy, and I set up a list of 11 very random things to be collected around campus. The list included items such as a tree branch as long as the longest arm on your team or a print out of laxpower.com preseason rankings with a message for Salisbury Women’s Lacrosse written on it by an IT worker. 

We divided the team into three groups, separating them so that different girls, particularly the older and younger ones, could get a chance to work with one another in a situation different from lacrosse practice, to get to know each other a little bit better.  In the end, it really didn’t matter which team won the hunt but we all had a few good laughs.

We all have our fingers crossed, weather permitting, we can be outside on the field this entire upcoming week.  Next weekend, we head to North Carolina for the South of the Border tournament.  We are all very excited to get down there and play in some competitive scrimmages!