Girls' Junior Varsity Lacrosse vs Loomis Chaffee School

Score/Result: 12-10 L

Taft travelled on Wednesday to take on a tough Loomis team and lost a close battle. Despite aggressive individual defensive efforts and strong rushes on attack, draws and the subsequent opportunities for each team largely determined the outcome of the game.

While Taft had some of these quick rushes through Elle Carroll and Amelia Bermingham, tallying two and four goals respectively, draw possession hurt the Rhinos’ ability to take a lead. Loomis managed to win more of the draws giving them the advantage in regard to numbers up opportunities on transition. Despite feeling under the weather, Lexi Long significantly impacted midfield play through her vision on the field and good decision-making. Lexi tallied three goals for the game. Paige Whittemore was the other goal scorer, adding a tally to Taft’s total through strategic shot placement. Though Taft fought strong up through the final minutes, coming back from 12-8 to a 12-10 window in the remaining minute and forty-five seconds of play, they ran out of time to tie up the game. Elle Carroll had a rush on goal with 35 seconds left to play but this sadly did not result in a goal. Despite strong momentum in the final minutes, Taft could not close the gap all the way as they ran out of time for another rush.

Though they suffered from difficulty to win the draw, Taft made many positive improvements to midfield play. The Rhinos successfully put into play the double teams they practiced throughout the week, helping to slow the opposition and force turnovers. Maggie Lineberger, Hope Tierney, and Colleen Iannone were significant contributors and facilitators of double team play throughout the game.

Jane Andresen had a stand out performance in Taft’s game. Andresen played aggressive individual defense, forcing Loomis to lose possession and turn over the ball. On top of smart man-to-man play, Jane recognized ground ball opportunities and won these battles, resulting in three significant ground ball pickups in the first half that contributed to offensive play and at least one goal. Brooke Majewski successfully intercepted two balls in her defensive play. Megan Stone and Sophia Dawn also played strong and aggressive man-to-man defense helping to keep the middle clear of attack threats.

Maggie Blatz had another strong performance in net, showing no fear as she kept her body in front of the ball on a number of Loomis shot opportunities. Blatz performed well under pressure, making a pivotal save at the buzzer concluding the first half.