Women’s lacrosse season ends after loss to Granite Bay

By Claire Bachand,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff—

Davis High’s women’s lacrosse team fell to Granite Bay 5-7 in its first playoff game, ending its season on May 9.

During the first half, goals from senior Helena Leal, junior Alex Agnew and junior Jillian King tied DHS with Granite Bay 3-3. However, just minutes before the end of the first half, Granite Bay fired a shot into Davis’ goal, pulling ahead 3-4.

Granite Bay carried this momentum into the second half. Despite several stunning stops by goalkeeper junior Sophie Purves, Granite Bay secured a lead of 7-3 over Davis.

Even with the odds against them, the Blue Devils refused to let down. With just one minute and 37 seconds left, Jillian King scored her second goal of the game. A minute later, Senior Ava McCray sent the lacrosse puck flying past Granite Bay’s goalie and into the net—ending the game 5-7.

“I think we did a good job bringing intensity and just having fun knowing that it would definitely be our last home game,” captain Leal said. “I think we worked with what we had and pretty much did our best.”

Despite beating Granite Bay twice within just 10 days prior to the Blue Devil loss, DHS was unable to pull out a third victory.

“The other team really came out as a different team and they had a lot more intensity,” Leal said. “It did not feel like we were playing the same team we were playing the last two games.”

Coach Jennifer Morris agrees.

“They came up with a whole new game plan that we didn’t have time to prepare for,” Morris said.

With attacker junior Chloe Meyers suffering from a torn ACL, and Granite Bay covering offensive players senior Ellie Baker and Agnew, Davis High’s offense had to readjust.

“Jillian King had a really good night, she had to step up because they were shutting down Ellie and Alex, who were kind of our top two scorers out on the field tonight,” Morris said.

Morris believes that her team did a good job progressing on offense despite the team’s obstacles. However, the Dlue Devils’ inability to finish their shots “made the difference,” Morris said.

As the women’s lacrosse season came to a close, some seniors stepped off the field and set down their lacrosse stick for the last time.

“I’m really upset not because we lost, just because this is going to be my last time playing lacrosse since the college I’m going to doesn’t have a lacrosse team or a club lacrosse team,” Leal said. “I think I’m really going to miss being on the field with this team. This is a sport that I really love and I’ve been playing since I was in sixth grade, but also some of the girls on this team are some of my closest friends and a lot of the time we only really hang out here.”

Like Leal, Morris is going to miss the lacrosse season. She enjoyed watching her team learn and grow throughout the season, with players developing and stepping up.

“You always sort of go through this pattern of going to practice and getting ready for games, so there’s always a week or so where you’re happy to have a little free time, but then you just miss it—you miss coming in every day. I’m absolutely going to miss coaching these seniors. They’re a great group; they’re quiet; they work hard; and I’ve known them for a long time,” Morris said.

Despite losing several seniors, Morris looks forward to coaching many returning players next year.