Oh, What A Night

By Aaron Skomial

The women’s lacrosse season officially kicked off at the high school on Tuesday night. After a weekend of disappointing scrimmage losses, the team came out of the gates and tallied up 20 goals against Clarkston. Not only did they score 20, they clamped down on defense and allowed just six goals.  

The game started slow and scoring was absent for the first 3 minutes. Once the first goal was scored, the goals just kept coming. The first goal of the season was scored by Natalie Sochaki. Clarkston came right back and scored the equalizer to tie it up at 1-1. That was the last time that the game was tied.

The game was played with quick transitions and fantastic passing. The offense moved the ball effectively and the defense smothered the ball in transition. Clarkston struggled to move the ball up the field on a consistent basis. Hartland was focused and determined to put a disappointing weekend behind them.

Once the flow of the game was established, the goals came fast and furious.  Hartland Junior, Ryan Skomial, finished the game with six goals and eight assists on the night. She consistently found teammates during the game and gave them opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net. Hartland Junior, Natalie Sochaki, finished the night with five goals and was a consistent recipient of passes from Skomial.

Seven different players contributed to the barrage of scoring. The team continued to strike throughout the game. Hartland junior, Annie Quinn, finished with three goals on the night. Hartland Seniors, Haley Crouse and Rachel Sharpe, finished with two goals each. Maggie Hogan (Senior) and Amber Crouse (Sophomore) rounded out the scoring with one goal each.

Hartland junior, Tabitha Ferguson, stopped plenty of shots throughout the night and came out of goal occasionally to help on defense to stay warm on a chilly night. She had prolonged time between goals because the defense was suffocating and it kept Clarkston out of the scoring area.

Hartland Seniors, Caci Pippin, Kayla Hinkle, and Rachael Gibbs, led the defense on a chilly night. They guarded Clarkston’s players tightly and made efforts to knock passes down and scoop up ground balls. They were critical in getting the ball from the defensive end of the field to the midfield.  

Junior Varsity Lacrosse

How does a varsity program have success? It has a good junior varsity program feeding it. Hartland beat Clarkston 15-2. The girls controlled and dominated the game.