Their recent win over South Brunswick  is keeping people’s hopes high for an amazing rest of the season, and now the East Brunswick girls lacrosse team is working hard to defend their winning streak after making it to GMC semifinals last season. These players must work together both physically and mentally through challenging games, moments, and injuries. However, people may overlook players and the effort they put in during training and on the field. For example, Sara Birns, a Senior, describes how “people don’t give goalies enough credit than is due. Our goalie Isabelle King is probably one of the best players I’ve seen on the field/in general. If it weren’t for her or her skill level in the game, we wouldn’t accomplish half of our goals as a team. Goalies truly get overlooked because they may not condition as much as other players, yet their mental game is just as strong if not stronger- especially in Isabelle’s case.” Isabelle King has accumulated a total of 84 saves and scored a total of 89 goals against opposing teams this season.

Lacrosse can teach these players valuable lessons, such as patience and not letting losses discourage them. For example, Sara described how South Brunswick beat EB 13-7.  When EB played them again, they beat them by the same score they had beaten EB by the game before (13-7). By beating South Brunswick once again, the team made it to semi-finals for the first time in over eight years. Sara describes how her favorite moment from the season was “being the first person to score against Old Bridge in our first game.” When asked how she and her team overcame this challenge, she used the advice of “never thinking you’re finished when there’s always more you can work on . . . regardless of whether you thought you were an amazing athlete or bound to go D1, you should never let a good game or your ego get in the way of being even better.” Allison Weiden, a junior, has accumulated impressive stats this season. She has scored the most goals at 28, along with the most points at 40, while Darya Popova, a senior, has scored a total of 14 assists. With many more games to come, these players will continue to support each other on and off the field to continue to win.