Lacrosse loses to Laurier

The women’s lacrosse team ended a golden season with their second straight OUA silver medal, losing 7-5 to the defending champion Laurier Golden Hawks last Sunday in Waterloo.

The women fought hard throughout, even tying up the game at one point but numerous fouls gave Laurier the advantage.

The Gaels faced the University of Toronto last Saturday in Waterloo, coming through the semi-finals with an 8-7 win over the Varsity Blues.

Defender Jodey Therriault said the keys to the win were good communication on the field and patience to neutralize Toronto’s strong defence.

“We wanted to really slow our game down,” she said.

She said the team focused on waiting for clear passing lanes to avoid turning over the ball with sloppy passes.

Therriault is in her first year of law school and spent the last four year’s playing with the Guelph Gryphons.

She said the team took the same strategy in to the final, focusing on playing “smart ball.”

“The main goal of the weekend was to keep our intensity up and play hard all weekend and we did that.”

The team worked hard to not only defend against Laurier’s strengths but also to impose their style of play on the Golden Hawks.

Therriault said that, for the most part, the Gaels succeeded in executing their plan and the results of the game were no indication of the way the Gaels played.

“‘Tooth and nail’ is what we’re referring to it as,” she said.

Though they were never ahead in the game Therriault said the Gaels spent plenty of time in the Hawks’ zone.

Unfortunately the Gaels committed several fouls inside the fan (the lacrosse equivalent of the crease in hockey), giving Laurier multiple direct shots on their net.

“Fifty per cent of their goals came from penalty shots,” she said.

Goalie Alexis Maddaloni said she just had to shake off each goal and move forward.

“You’ve just got to leave it. It’s happened. Tell the defence it’s in the past and it’s something you can’t dwell on.”

Laura Chambers scored a pair of goals for Queen’s, Martha Ross also had two and Faye Pang contributed one.

The Golden Hawks capitalized on their penalty opportunities and won the banner for the third straight year.

Despite the loss, Queen’s had an excellent regular season, posting a nearly flawless 7-1 record.

Head coach Brendan Sweeney said the key to the Gaels’ success is their commitment to a positive environment as well to a disciplined attitude.

“I think it’s a positive place to learn. Having said that, I don’t shy away from getting on people if I see a lack of effort.”

Their hard work was rewarded at the year-end awards ceremony where they won five of the seven awards handed out.

Pang was awarded Most Valuable Player (offensive) as well as Outstanding Graduating Player. Most Valuable Player (defensive) went to Catherine McArthur and Most Valuable Goaltender went to Maddaloni.

Chambers was awarded Rookie of the Year honours.

Pang, McArthur, Maddaloni and midfielder Kaleigh Ross were all named first-team all-stars while Chambers and attacker Martha Ross were named second-team all-stars.