Northwood Lacrosse comes into the season with high expectations after both teams made the playoffs last year. With the men’s team only losing three seniors, the team is ready to make a strong push toward a State Championship. On the women’s end, they have strong leadership with also having many seniors return for their final year.
When asked about the Men’s team’s expectations, senior lacrosse team member Taylor Laberge said,
“We are going to have a good season. I think we are going to try and get over 14 wins.15 wins in our 18-game season.”
Taylor Laberge, one of the four captains of the men’s team, has big goals for the players, but that is the expectation set for this season after having success in the previous years. Last year the Men’s team finished the season with 11 wins and 6 losses going 9-3 in conference play. They ended the year with a defeat against Williams High School in the first round of the playoffs.
Photo by Cabot Priddle
The men’s team has started the year with four wins making them undefeated and standing atop the Central/Mid Carolina Conference. The four wins come against teams like Jordan High School who recently beat Eastern Alamance by a spread of 18 goals, to teams like Williams High School by a score of 16-2, the team that knocked Northwood out of the playoffs last year.
Photo taken by NHS Yearbook Member Cabot Priddle
When asked about the team, senior Will Smith said “[We’re] feeling healthy, we’re strong, getting our offense together and defense is folding all in…I have heard some people say that this is one of Northwoods best teams in a while. “
Will Smith is another one of the four captains on the team, being a top scorer according to Maxpreps.com. Having so many seniors, he understands that the team is bigger than himself.
When asked his personal expectations for the season, he said,
“Set some goals this year; I want to have more assists than last year and become more [of a] team player to better the players around me” Smith is hoping to embark on setting these goals this year.
Last year, the Women’s team finished with 12 wins and 4 losses, going 7-3 in conference play. The year finished with a great playoff win to Laney High School in round 1 but then a tough loss to Holly Springs in round 2. This year gave the girls great confidence moving to the next year having multiple seniors returning for one last ride.
Photo was taken by NHS Lacrosse
When asked about the team expectations and goals, senior lacrosse player Pietra Mantovani Rocha said,
“Well we have a pretty good set of girls on our team right now. We have pretty good expectations of winning a lot of games because we have so many different skill sets and just good energy all throughout, good chemistry….” Pietra is in her first year on the lacrosse team ready to learn and improve, but she also understands the heavy expectations over the team.
The Women’s team started the year with the great news of a commitment, junior Ella Bocke to play lacrosse at Campbell University, paired with a narrow victory against Union Pines which ended with a score of 15-12.
They followed up this win with a three-win and two-loss stretch where they are currently going into a game with Riverside High School, which is on a two-game losing streak.
Photo taken by Northwood women’s lacrosse coach Katie Gilliam
The Mens and Womens team need all the support they can get fighting through a tough schedule and trying to live up to big expectations. The men’s team will travel to face Seaforth High School on Tuesday, March 14. The Women’s team will travel to play East Chapel Hill High School Monday, March 13. Go out and support our Northwood Chargers!
