Girls lacrosse: Program improves in Year 2

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The team’s win total didn’t go up, but there was no doubt in coach Dan Pickens’ mind that his Farmington girls lacrosse team was vastly improved in its second year as a varsity sport.

“The girls improved so much this year. Bloomington Jefferson is a good team and we gave them a scare for awhile,” Pickens said after Monday’s season-ending 20-8 section tournament loss in Bloomington. “We lost 19-2 in the section game against them last season and I think they were expecting the same game.... We came out and scored the first goal and played goal-for-goal with them for the first 10 or 12 minutes.... We played a very good game — they weren’t scared or intimidated.”

Haley Bradshaw scored three goals for the Tigers, giving her a team-leading 28 for the season. Jessica Erchul, Shelby Klotz, Brooke Genzler, Rachael Welzin and Kaeli Halverson (first career goal) each added single goals.

Pickens also noted the effort of Haley Doll, who was over 50 percent in winning draws.

“She continued to be very impressive on that important part of the game for someone brand new to lacrosse,” he said.

Kaitlyn Lacroix played the entire game in goal and stopped 10 of 30 Bloomington Jefferson shots.

The Tigers finished with a record of 1-11, but four of those losses were by one goal and a fifth setback came in overtime. Of the team’s 24 players, 16 have only been playing the sport for a year and six are new to the sport this season. Pickens expects that another year of experience will help the Tigers turn some of those close losses into victories next spring.

Tags: girls lacrosse, sports, farmington, tigers, prep