Montgomery girls’ lacrosse notches second victory
By: Justin Feil
The winning never gets old. The losing, however, did quickly. The Montgomery High girls’ lacrosse team opened its season with four straight losses before it dominated a first-year varsity program, Bernards, 14-1. The Cougars lost three more times before picking up their second win of the season, 11-5, Friday over another first-year program Watchung Hills.
"I expected to win, but I was nervous too," said MHS’ Mackenzie Mapes, who had two goals in the win. "I really didn’t want to lose. I hate losing. It kind of eats at me."
Mapes, who has tasted plenty of success as a doubles player for the Central Jersey Group II champion MHS girls’ tennis team, might be discouraged by all the losses on the lacrosse field this spring, but a couple things keep her going.
"My dad," she said of the man who encouraged her to give the Montgomery Recreation League a shot five years ago. "And I really, really like the sport. If I like it, I do it."
Mapes, a senior, hopes to continue playing lacrosse next season at the University of Vermont, and no doubt, hopes to experience a little more success as a team.
Jeremy Beardsley is grateful that his inexperienced Cougars have someone with Mapes’ background and desire to succeed to help them through the tough times.
"In the first half," said the second-year coach, "we were a little out of sorts and she took control. She’s the most experienced player on the team. There are a few others who have played that are a few years behind her. You can tell. She does so many little things well. She reads the game well and she’s doing so much. A lot of our things go through her. The problem is, the good teams, they have 12 Mackenzies."
The Cougars have hung together even after losses to such talented teams. That alone has impressed Beardsley. MHS’ work ethic has not remained strong in spite of the record that now stands at 2-7 heading into today’s game against Bridgewater-Raritan, another of the top teams in the area.
"They try so hard," Beardsley said of the Cougars. "It’s tough to lose by 10 or 11 and keep coming back. But they come out they next day and work their butts off.
"They stick together. Maybe it’s the losing that makes us closer," he added. "It gets frustrating. You have to stay together though. You pick each other up and get through it together."
Friday, the Cougars were able to happily celebrate together as the tables were turned somewhat. Alli Addis had three goals, two in the first half as MHS took a 6-0 lead into halftime. The Cougars know what it’s like to be shut out in a half, but this time they had the commanding advantage thanks to solid passing on offense and some clutch saves by Debbie Lingel, who finished with nine saves in goal.
In the second half, Watchung Hills cut the lead to four goals, 8-4, before Mapes scored her second goal of the game and made sure the outcome was never in doubt.
"We were pumped up in the beginning," said Mapes, who also won the majority of draws for the Cougars. "We all knew we had a chance at winning. I wasn’t too worried when they scored a few. I knew someone would score for us."
Diana Posten also had a multiple goal game for the Cougars. She added two goals. The better balance and ability to thwart Watchung Hills’ offense showed that MHS is improving and there is hope that that improvement will continue as the Cougars will face five more of the Top 10 teams in the area before the season ends.
"Our defense has improved a lot," Mapes said. "We can finally throw and catch. Overall, we’ve gotten better. We’re stronger as a team. The harder the teams are that we play, the better we play. That’s why we’ve improved. But it’s hard to lose all the time."
It does make the victories more special because sometimes the losing masks the Cougars’ improvement. Beardsley set a pre-season goal of winning twice as many games as last season when the Cougars won three times, and MHS helped its chances with a quality win for its second triumph of the season.
"This one was a little better challenge than Bernards," Beardsley said. "Bernards was over early. This one was a little challenge, though I never felt in danger of losing. It was good to be challenged a little and still know we were in control. They were a good first-year program. There are six or seven teams on our schedule that we can compete with. I think we’re a very good second-year team. Whenever we see these teams (like Watchung Hills) it gives us an idea of how much we’ve improved."
MHS still has games remaining with Phillipsburg and Hillsborough, teams with similar experience, on the horizon. And before Mapes moves on to the next level, she has a few ideas for the end of the season.
"We still have to improve overall," she said. "Although everyone’s gotten better overall, we can still improve. We can maybe work on our passing more, or maybe get stronger at our draws. I just want to keep improving and win more games."
For Mackenzie Mapes and the Montgomery High girls’ lacrosse team, it sure beats losing.