Girls lacrosse team aims for first win of season

Despite a tough opening sled, Ranger girls remain positive

It hasn’t been the best of starts for the Forest Lake girls lacrosse team this spring, but head coach Jenna Brown isn’t too keen on making any major adjustments this early in the season.

“We have so many girls that have never played lacrosse before – we’re just continuing to work on their skills, especially on the JV level – we want them to get up to varsity,” Brown said. “It’s a matter of keeping the top 15 girls that we have now and just making sure they stay positive and approach it with that mindset rather than approaching what we need to do to fix our game, because they are all really great players. It’s about working together now and trusting everybody.”

The Rangers dropped their first three games of the year by way of a section opponent in Anoka (9-8) on Thursday, April 11, a matchup with East Ridge (15-1) on Wednesday, April 17, and most recently their home opener against powerhouse Cretin-Derham Hall (18-1) on Friday, April 19. Despite the tough outcomes, Brown is focused on the positives and the moral victories that come with playing any sport.

“I think we have to look at those tiny moments to get us through some of those tougher games and just ensure that we are all supporting each other. It’s hard – I always beat teams 18-1, and now I’m losing 18-1,” Brown said, regarding the lopsided loss to Cretin-Derham Hall.

“I have to adjust my mindset too and figure out what the girls need. Right now they need a positive coach, and I need to make sure they are leaving practice with a smile and coming to practice with a smile on their faces – that’s our biggest goal right now.”

In the season-opening contest at Anoka on Thursday, April 11, the Rangers played one of their most competitive games of the year, but unfortunately came up just short to the Tornadoes by a final score of 9-8. Brown was excited for the opportunity to face an opponent they may get to square off with in the Section 7 tournament.

“I just kept telling them that it was our section game, because they are in our section and we never get to play them [in the regular season] or other teams in our section. So I kept treating it like it was, and I think it helped them stay excited and focused.”

In relation to the close score and offensive output, Brown thought it was a product of playing a school with a similar level of talent – unlike the rest of the competition they face in the ever-daunting Suburban East Conference.

“It was an even game because their talent level was similar to ours, which helped keep the flow of the game going. It wasn’t very one-sided. I felt like we capitalized on the little things like the ground balls, our passing. We were able to win more draw controls than we have in the other two games. I think that definitely helped us,” Brown said.

Within the matchup, several different Rangers contributed scoring efforts in the tight loss. Junior Maren Wallinga tallied a pair of goals, as did sophomore Abbie Sklavenitis. Lydia Balfany, a second sophomore, recorded a hat-trick by ripping off three goals for Forest Lake, before junior captain Rylen Kissell netted in a goal herself to go along with two assists.

Moving into the contests at East Ridge and against Cretin-Derham, Brown detailed what was essentially missing in those games compared to the season opener.

“The fundamentals,” Brown stated. “Those two teams have a bunch of players who are going to play at some pretty good colleges – they have so many talented upperclassmen. They play year-round, both those two teams. Some of those girls play 24/7, and we only have a handful of ours who do that, so they aren’t working on those basic skills as often the other teams are.”

The outlook

Being that the Rangers will evidently face just as tough or even tougher competition in the SEC, Brown discussed how the team will look to overcome the challenge.

“We set some goals at the beginning of the year, which some are attainable and some might be out of reach. We may adjust some of those goals. We just need some leaders to step up, outside of our captains, to step up and lead by example and to use their voices at practice and during the games. Our practices are real fun – I’ll watch film after every game and we bring it into practice and those are the drills we work on. Just focusing on one thing at a time that we need to get better at each day,” Brown said.

Brown notes the weather as a key factor in how her team plays.

“Honestly, I think the weather has a big impact on these girls. When it’s cold and miserable and your hands don’t work, it’s tough,” she said.

The Rangers faced Park of Cottage Grove on Wednesday, April 24, in a game held after press time.