The Lady Lions were still reeling from our deflating loss to D’Youville, the previous Saturday, when we returned to practice on Monday. We only had two days to prepare for nationally ranked, Pace, and I was worried about the collective state of mind, going in to Wednesday’s game.

Pace is a big, fast, athletic and skilled team. They are aggressive and play with a lot of intensity. In the opening minutes of the game, we played very well. We tied the game at one, with ten minutes remaining in the first quarter and were playing some of the best defense we have played all year. Still, the visitors took a 4 – 1 lead into the second quarter. That second quarter would be our downfall, as Pace netted 11 goals in the period to our 1, for 15 – 2 halftime lead. Where we had been handling their aggression and pace of play, early, we were unable to sustain it. The rest of the game was more of the same, with a final score of 21 – 3!

We licked our wounds, and began focusing our attention on the Roberts Wesleyan Redhawks, our final opponent of the season. They are always a tough team, that doesn’t make many mistakes. They play a slower, more deliberate style of lacrosse. Going into Saturday’s season finale, I was hoping we could somehow, come up with our best performance of the year.

As has so often been the case, throughout this season, we began the game well. We traded goals with them, before they scored 4 consecutive goals, to finish the opening quarter with a 5 – 1 advantage. At this point, the Lions really dug in, and battled back! We scored the next 3 goals, making it 5 – 4 at the half! In that moment, I was proud of our compete level, and thought that if we could keep it close, we could pull it out.

But that was not to be. The Redhawks tallied the next 6 goals, before we scored for the last time, making it 11 – 5, with less than nine minutes remaining. What had been a close game, ended up feeling almost like a blow out. The final score was 13 – 5.

It is difficult to pinpoint, what changed in the second half. We did get a total of 5 cards (3 yellow and 2 green) in that third quarter, which certainly didn’t help, our cause. And certainly, our opponent played better in the second half. Like, so many other games, we just weren’t able to string together enough good plays, enough of the time. It is very frustrating, because of how well we did play, some of the time.

After the game there was an air of disappointment and sadness, at the tailgate party. A somber gathering, for sure.

I had already decided, that I will not be returning next season. My decision had nothing to do with how our season went. In fact, despite our record, I still enjoyed coaching this team. I just did not want to make that kind of time commitment, again.

I plan on continuing to write the blog, though the content (and perhaps the name) will be different. I hope you will stay along, for the next chapter.