The Cougars just need a little more snarl. ConVal’s girls’ lacrosse team has showed a lot of promise, but after three straight losses, it will take some attitude and focus to right the ship.
“I think we just really need to focus,” said goalie Emma Crowley after Friday’s game, a 16-12 loss to Pelham. “Just really come together as a team and communicate a little better. We have really good talent on this team and I think we can do really well in this season.”
ConVal showed flashes of that potential Friday. After falling behind 5-1, the Cougars roared back to tie the game at eight apiece.
“It’s a mentality thing,” said attacker Lily Sheridan. “We’ve just got to keep it in our heads that even if we’re down by five, we can pick it up and keep going. It’s all about the energy and what we can feed off of each other.”
Unfortunately for ConVal, the second half started out just like the first, and the Cougars were in a deep hole late, thanks to a lack of ball security and the inability to win battles for those 50/50 balls.
“Turnovers and ground balls kill us,” said head coach Derek Sorbello. “We just gave [Pelham] too many chances, too many opportunities for fast breaks. Speed-wise, they are faster than us, so we can’t have it.”
Even with a late flurry of scoring from Grace Dell (four goals, two assists), ConVal couldn’t quite claw back, and Pelham won 16-12.
Sheridan had three goals and four assists, and Crowley had 12 saves and stood tough between the pipes despite facing more than her share of shots.
“It was a lot of shots … I just don’t think about the last one that happened,” Crowley said. “I just keep going. For me, I just need to not look at the scoreboard and just think it’s zero-zero.”
Sorbello said he’s got some plans to shake up their upcoming practices and ensure that the 1-3 Cougars get their heads on straight before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. home game against Hopkinton (1-4).
“It’s a matter of when you’re doing the ground balls in practice, that you’re focused on doing them, and then you get a little bit of an attitude about it,” Sorbello said.
Sheridan was on board.
“It takes focus during practice. It takes ground balls. It’s really all in the head,” she said.