Author Spotlight
Christian Gooley
The Shawnee Mission girls JV lacrosse won the championship game against St. Thomas Aquinas 12-9 on May 13, maintaining their undefeated season.
After seven consecutive wins, it was playoff time. Their first game was supposed to be against Blue Valley who they’d already beat earlier in the season. According to freshman Lulu Mckee, the team was nervous for the Blue Valley game because they’d only beat by two points in the regular season.
The game was canceled due to a shortage of players, giving Shawnee Mission a bye round and taking them straight to the championship game against Saint Thomas Aquinas.
After a battle in the first half, the girls were expecting a fight during the second half as it was tied 7-7. They hit a stride, scoring four goals in just 5 minutes, giving them the momentum to finish off the game
“We came into the season with a lot of new girls so there definitely was some worry about how good we were going to be,”Junior Captain Elise Madden said.
The season started off just as Madden expected, winning their first game by only two goals. After that point, it was only big win after big win with their biggest win being a 15-0 shutout, not letting the other team score a goal, over Sion. They continued to dominate throughout the season with other big wins like the 16-2 over Sion.
“We just have the most talented, smartest and best athletes,” Head Coach Lance Turpin said. “I just get out of their way and let them do their job.”
The team is made up of tight-knit friend groups as well as siblings, creating an overall strong bond from the start.
“We just find the fun in it instead of getting stressed out about messing up,” Mckee said.
When winning every game by so much and dominating the entire league, it’s hard to stay motivated for every practice and every game when there is no real competition.
Turpin says that he makes sure that at practice everyday the girls remember that an undefeated season and championship will not just be given to them.
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