What a way to start the lacrosse season. Congratulations to all our senior lacrosse teams who competed at the South West Rally.
All teams have succeeded in making it through to the championship rounds with the 3rds placing 4th in their pool, 2nds reaching the semi-finals and our 1st team winning overall at the South West Rally. POM was dedicated to Eleanor (U6A), Lily (11J), Imogen (11K) and Amelia (11K), with Esme (U6A) commended as a ‘superstar goalkeeper’ for the 1sts in assembly.
St Helen’s 1st lacrosse team captains, Esme and Georgie, give their report from the tournament:
‘The day began with our first match against Monmouth – a 3–2 win was a great warm-up for the day to come and put us in high spirits. However, a serious loss against Godolphin in our second match showed us that there was a lot still to work on if we were going to be serious competitors. We finished the morning on a high after smashing our long-established rivals St Swithuns 4–1, which put us comfortably in the championship.
Here, we had a strong start with a win against Sherbourne, followed by an absolute nail-biter against Queen Anne’s which resulted in a draw (again!). We then came up against eventual finalists Downe House in a super competitive match where, sadly, they came out on top by one. The team then spent a very tense half-hour huddled around the tent as we waited for the semi-finalists to be announced – we knew it would be a points race between us and Queen Anne’s, and thankfully we just pipped them, sending us rolling into the semis.
In the semi-finals, we met Westonbirt, who won last year’s competition, and our perseverance was really put to the test as it was a 2–2 draw at full time – meaning the next goal would win. After an excellent save kept us in the game, Freya managed to get past the goalie with a mid-air shot, keeping our finals dream alive.
In the final, we faced Downe House again, having just been defeated by them only two matches before, so we knew it would be an extremely close match. Having matched scores goal-for-goal the whole way through, right at the last minute Sophia scored the tournament-winning, quick-stick slam dunk to put us 1 goal ahead, and we managed to fend off the opposition until the final whistle blew. Everyone played with so much intensity, and to come back from a loss in the morning to win (for the first time ever) is a testament to the hard work put in by the team. A special shoutout to goalie Esme for holding the team together with her saves – we averaged less than two goals conceded per match – and thank you to St Swithun’s for hosting!’
