Kellsie Neary is a senior at Orchard Park High School. She is a member of the girls varsity lacrosse team and will blog throughout the season to provide an inside look at the team. This is her first installment.
Kellsie Neary
Well, it’s that time of year again! It’s the start of lacrosse season. Teams are officially put together and the first couple of games have been played. The weather has been nice enough to practice outside every day, which has definitely helped all of the spring sports teams get an early start. It’s nice to be able to practice outside without being covered in mud, drenched from the rain, and frozen from the cold temperatures.
The girls varsity lacrosse team hasn’t gotten off to the greatest start. Our first game we lost to Williamsville North, 18-8. It was a tough battle and we definitely put up a fight. Megan Smith, our new goalie, did an awesome job in goal. They beat us to ground balls and draws, which plays a huge role in the game. I think that we did well considering it was our first game. We definitely have to work on the fundamentals of lacrosse; throwing, catching, and setting up our offensive/defensive plays.
This year, we have a pretty solid team. We have all been playing for a number of years. We just have to learn to mesh together. We have a very strong midfield line consisting of Maddie Nowakowski, Maddy Sheehan and Caroline Perfetto. Those girls will be huge contributors to the team. We will host Niagara Wheatfield on the Orchard Park Turf on Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
I think that this year we all share a special bond. Everyone seems to get along very well. Last week, we all went to Taffy’s and attended a Canisius College lacrosse Game.
Like last year, we have a small team. We started off this year with fourteen girls. Over the past two weeks, we have pulled up four extremely talented girls from junior varsity. They fit right in and will really help us win some games.
Every year the lacrosse teams raise money for some type of charity. This year, we will be raising money for medical expenses for Kaely Kwitek, a junior at OPHS. Kaely was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma Cancer. We ordered t-shirts and we are wearing lime green shoelaces for every game. All of the proceeds will be going to Kaely’s family. We are also accepting donations.