Girls lacrosse players have been waiting all year for their turn on the fields. They dig their cleats into the turf and anticipate the whistle. Finally, it is their season.

MCHS’s lacrosse season is one of the most suspenseful times for some of our students. With girls training for their season we get an inside look on their goals, how they have been preparing and what they are looking forward to the most.

The girls varsity team had their first game on April 10 going against Huntley.

“Our goal overall is to make sure the girls enjoy the sport and hopefully recruit more athletes to the program,” said Assistant coach Dominic Petrucci. “We also would like to win a few more games this year. Communication is key in the game of lacrosse as well, and we’ve focused a lot on improving communication.”

Not only do the coaches have goals, the athletes have personal goals that they plan to achieve this season. Communication skills are important to have on the field, sophomore Mady Sima explained how she will work towards accomplishing her leadership goal.

“Bonding with my team,” said Sima, “and just taking advice from my coach.”

The girls have had busy practices this year before they kicked off their season on Wednesday. Petrucci gave an inside look at the girls lacrosse team.

“We’ve focused on conditioning and increasing our skills through drills,” said Petrucci. “Some drills we work on are star passing, shuttle lines; the girls will work on passing to each other using their dominant arm and not dominant arm. We work on cradling and scooping ground balls, we work on cutting across the field when on offense, and taking quality shots at goal.”

Some of the senior players share their favorite memories of the sport in their years of playing.

“Playing with my sister,” said senior Mia Mosson. “She made me join lacrosse my freshman year.”

With the seniors getting excited about their final year, the coaches have seen their team grow to become stronger athletes following the start to the season.

“My favorite memory so far has been watching this current team grow,” said Petrucci. “Our veteran players have been very welcoming to athletes new to the program. The team seems to enjoy playing with each other which is very important.

“These girls have been showing up and putting in the work,” said Petrucci. “They’ve had late practices and still they show up. They may not be the biggest team, but they are dedicated to the lacrosse program. So my favorite memory as of now is seeing how well they have been improving, and how positive they have been. I’m excited to see what comes this year.”