Marysville’s Aubrey Montgomery (21) sprints past Hilliard Davidson’s Kate Bidlack (4) during the first half of action. The junior scored one goal in the team’s loss to the Wildcats.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
—
Marysville’s girls lacrosse squad suffered its 11th regular season loss to Hilliard Davidson, 15-5.
However, coach Whitney Brofford sees many positive aspects with an overall change in the team’s mindset.
“We definitely came out strong but got down on ourselves,” she said. “We turned around in the second half and started seeing goals and what we work on in practice.”
Despite the lopsided contest, the Lady Monarchs were able to outperform the Wildcats at the draw. MHS won 16 draws, compared to its opponent’s eight.
The offense, while not as efficient as Davidson’s, found ways to get in front of the cage.
Marysville tallied 19 shots on goal.
The Wildcats, though, utilized cutters on several of its scoring surges, leaving goalie Kat Schoenleb in many one-on-one situations.
Davidson wasted no time in notching six goals during the first quarter.
The last one came from Lauren Finefrock at the 2:53 mark.
Holding a 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter, the Wildcats continued to click on offense.
They started with a goal from Kaitlyn Sanders.
Davidson added another four scores, putting the margin at 11-0 with approximately four minutes remaining in the half.
With 1:30 left until intermission, Marysville’s Sydney Fetherolf claimed the team’s first goal.
During the halftime break, Brofford and the coaching staff told the team to stay in the game despite frustrations surrounding penalties.
“It might just be us as a coaching staff, but we feel like we get called for a lot more stuff than other teams,” the first-year head coach said. “Mostly we talked about ‘don’t worry about what the refs say.’”
The Lady Monarchs were able to score another four goals from Aubrey Montgomery, Maggie Zweizig, Faythe Willis and Fetherolf in the second half.
Davidson scored the same amount of goals to claim the victory.
“It might have been a loss, but seeing what we are putting into practices and games and getting the results we are looking for… we are at least building towards a future,” Brofford said. “We’ve heard from refs, other schools and parents that they are seeing the improvements.”
Inside Marysville’s cage, Schoenleb earned seven saves while facing 20 shots.
The Lady Monarchs fell to 1-11 overall with a 0-6 record in the Cardinal Division of the Ohio Capital Conference.
Marysville will travel to Pickerington Central for a 7 p.m. game today.
The Division I girls lacrosse postseason draw will be held Friday. That will give a better idea of what the Lady Monarchs will expect to face this postseason.
“We have 14 seniors,” Brofford said. “This is the last time those 14 could potentially be playing together.
“If we want to extend it, then we have to play our hardest,” she said.