Falcons fall short of qualifying for SCVALs

The girls’ lacrosse team ended its season with a pivotal 13-8 loss to Pioneer on May 5 and a league record of 4-9. 

Had they beaten Pioneer, the Falcons would have qualified for the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League Finals (SCVALs). With four girls injured, the team had a hard time starting the game strong. 

“It was tough not being able to have our whole team being able to play. Our defense was the most affected from those injuries,” junior attack Nessa Kim said. 

Although the girls were not able to qualify for SCVALs, the team has greatly improved since last year. 

“The whole lacrosse program has improved so much since it was introduced a few years ago. This year, we had great team chemistry and everyone get along,”  senior attack Carolynn Choi said. 

Prior to ending their season in the game against Pioneer, the girls lost 22-11 to St. Francis on May 2. It was a tough loss, but the girls stayed optimistic for the Pioneer game, the last game of their season. 

“Although we lost, we had much better transition and passing game. When we made mistakes, we still encouraged each other, which I think is really important in a game,” sophomore defender Melissa Szenda said.

Under the direction of last year's JV coach Eric Wong, the varsity girls' lacrosse team ended the season with an improved league record of 4-9 compared to last year's record of 2-6.

The girls found that Wong's style of drilling and play strategy were much more effective than those of the previous years. He not only focused on stick skills but also helped the girls maintain good overall fitness by opening the weight room to girls who wanted to work on core strength and agility.

“I really enjoyed the practices because Eric was really nice, yet strict when he needed to be. Every practice was constructive and he always tried to help us improve,” junior attack Kristen Leung said.

Wong thought the girls improved greatly since the beginning of the season. 

  “I knew from the beginning that the girls were going to grow a lot as athletes,” said Wong. “We had a very athletic and fit team to begin with so I knew we would have speed and endurance over some teams.”

Even though the girls did not qualify for SCVALs, the fact has given them more motivation to work harder next year.

“I definitely think we’re going to be a team to look out for next year,” sophomore midfielder Jennie Werner said. “We can only improve and get better from here.”