Women’s lacrosse thump Coventry debutants

Warwick Women’s 1sts 18-1 Coventry Women’s 1sts

Warwick emerged victorious in their first Varsity women’s lacrosse game against Coventry University’s women first team on Wednesday 26 February.

The game was played as a nine-a-side game, with 10 players in the Coventry squad compared to Warwick’s 14. With several matches happening on the same day, the Warwick Varsity team comprised of players from both the first team and the second team.

Despite the unfortunate weather which lasted through the first quarter of the game, the game began well for the hosts, with the majority of the game played in the Coventry half.

Warwick dictated the play with aggressive checks and strong drives from midfielders Tabitha Pople and Emily Cross, despite Coventry’s impressive center draw from Coventry team captain Samantha Parsons. The first quarter ended with Warwick leading 3-0.

Warwick fared much better in the second quarter of the game. Although Warwick’s attack lacked effective use of dynamic cuts, perhaps as a result of a smaller team, their strong drives, aided by superior stick-work and aggressive tackles, helped them run away with the game.

Warwick defenders Becci Ayling and Georgina Stockley caught the eye, while a change in Warwick’s center player also secured more center-focused starts.

Coventry scored their first and only goal towards the end of the first half as Warwick failed to anticipate the strong goal run from their rivals. By the end of the first half, Warwick had stretched their lead to 10-1.

The game progressed much slower in the second half of the game, with the Warwick attack struggling to make inroads into an improved Coventry defense.

Nonetheless, Warwick secured a comprehensive 18-1 victory.

Carrie D.C, captain of Warwick Lacrosse’s women’s second team and second-year Biomedical Science student, commented: “We had some great scores, a lot of the freshers stepped up on their stick-work, the goalie stepped up, and it was a great game.

“I believe that this is the best we have ever played and it couldn’t have been better.”

It is the first time that Coventry has had a women’s lacrosse team. The team was recently established this year, at the beginning of the 2013-14 academic year.

Samantha Parsons, captain of the Coventry women’s team and Mechanical Engineering student at Coventry University, told the Boar: “It was a great learning experience and now, we definitely definitely know what we need to work on. We will need to work on communication and game play. Game play is definitely an issue for us.”