Young Pioneers sticking with it, showing net gains on lacrosse field

MANCHESTER, NH – The final score wasn’t pretty.

But the 18-5 setback to visiting Campbell was far from indicative of the effort on the field from Trinity’s varsity girls lacrosse team Wednesday evening.

The second half, in particular, was a microcosm of this season’s young, gritty, never-say-die Pioneers squad.

“(The second half) was very much a different game,” said head coach Lauren Perry. “I think the biggest thing I can commend this team on is that they play the whole game, the whole 60 minutes. We’re pretty young, but their (positive) attitude is there the whole time and they don’t stop fighting, and those are the kinds of things you can’t coach, that really comes from the individual players, and we have a team full of them.”

After notching one goal in the first half, freshman Arabella Mariano found the back of the net three more times, while senior captain Maeve Smith won a midfield draw and cut right through Campbell’s defense before firing the ball past the goalie for Trinity’s fifth tally.

It was Smith’s eight draw controls, in addition to Trinity’s season-high 25 ground balls – including eight by junior Carolyn Burleigh – that impressed Perry the most.

“It was a significant jump for us, and I really think we were able to capitalize on those opportunities, winning a lot of the draw controls and winning those ground balls, and then defensively making some big stops to try to swing that momentum,” she said. “I think we learned a lot and now have a lot we can work on in practice to start to take advantage of some additional opportunities, but for the start of the season, I’m happy with the foundation we’re building.”

Though the team features 10 freshmen, Perry said the on- and off-the-field influence of Smith and injured co-captain Courtney Ingham have helped set the tone for the young squad.