Our first Lax game against Western Guilford was a good learning experience. We lost 20 to 8, but we have hopes that the rest of the season will bring better results. The girls always have a positive attitude even when we lose. We saw what we needed to work on and those are our goals for the rest of the season.

                 During the first half, I was playing right low defense, meaning that I am one of the three defensive players protecting and blocking the ball from getting into the goal. I stuck to my girl and she didn’t get any balls; whenever she tried to cut through the eight, my stick was in front of hers so she couldn’t catch a pass. The eight is marked by lines on the field that have what you call hash marks. The line has seven hash marks and throughout the game you are in a position on one of the hash marks, but not always there are exceptions. On defense, when the girl you’re blocking has ball you say, “Got ball, got ball.” It helps the goalie to know where she needs to pay attention and who is blocking. Communication throughout the game is essential. It helps everyone know where the ball is and what you have to do whether it is block or shoot.

                During half time, my coaches told me to put on goalie gear and warm up. The referee during the first half made three calls on one of our defenders saying she was in the girl’s “shooting space.” Shooting space is when the girls you are blocking have the ball and you’re too close. After the referee made these calls it gave the other team three free shots on goal. From experience, when a girl gets a free shot on goal it’s scary, because there is a very good chance that you won’t block the shot.

                Any position is difficult and the girls on the Cowgirls Lax team are very and they encourage one another. The goalie on our team and also defensive player said at the end of our practices she wanted us to be like family and I really appreciate the positive attitude; she’s we’re not just a team, were family.