The girls lacrosse team is looking forward to their third season since being introduced as an FHN sponsored sport in the 2016 season. The ladies will look to get their first winning season this year, and with the help of some fresh faces on the field and on the sideline, it may help them in the long run.

“If we have lots of focused practices and more team bonding, then we should be able to get a winning record,” junior Selena Wang said.

One of the key additions that the lacrosse team has gotten is the assistance of coach Charles Lott. Lott, who is also the head defensive coach for the football team, was convinced by head girls lacrosse coach Ryan Darks during the football season to help the girls with strength and conditioning. Now that he has started to coach, Darks has had Lott help the defenders work on their defensive skills.

“The concept of defense and knowing students and knowing how they learn is something I want to carry over from football to the lacrosse field,” Lott said. “They don’t have the exact same drills, but I can take the concepts of how kids respond to certain drills and help them grow as players.”

The other key factors for this season will be the first two FHN lacrosse athletes to sign to a college, seniors Brianna Schmidt and Liz Wagner. Schmidt, a midfielder, has played for FHN for the past three years, and plans to play lacrosse at the Indiana Institute of Technology. Wagner, on the other hand, is one of the newest additions to the team. Wagner previously played for St. Dominic, and is planning on staying at goalie for the Knights. She recently just signed with North Central College. Together, the two will help lead the team.

“Wagner has helped defense, as well as attack with their shooting, so I feel that she’s a really good coach on how or where we should shoot, basically she knows from the other goalies perspective of what’s going to happen,” junior Mya Huddleston said. “For Bri, it’s really cool to see her grow as a midfielder, and she’s learning things and she’s bringing some stuff from college camps and she’s helping us with that knowledge.”

The team starts off their season in the Parkway Central Tournament at Parkway Central on March 17, where they will face off against Incarnate Word Academy at 10:00 a.m. Their first home game will be against Northwest on March 28 at 6:45 P.M.