Lacrossers go into break undefeated

"With a perfect 5-0 record at spring break, the Bainbridge girls' lacrosse team is on track to make another appearance in the state championship game.And to bring home the trophy.Last Thursday, the team won 8-4 at Lakeside, the school that beat the Spartans in the state championship game two years ago. It was a great game by the girls, coach Tami Tommila said. We had played a tough game on Tuesday (against defending state champion Overlake), and were short-handed again, being down four starters with vacations and injuries.Leading scorer against Lakeside was Lindsay Newlon, who scored three goals despite being injured. Rebecca Williamson scored twice, while Erika Holsman, Ashley Pedersen and Adrianne Moon each added a goal."

“With a perfect 5-0 record at spring break, the Bainbridge girls’ lacrosse team is on track to make another appearance in the state championship game.And to bring home the trophy.Last Thursday, the team won 8-4 at Lakeside, the school that beat the Spartans in the state championship game two years ago. It was a great game by the girls, coach Tami Tommila said. We had played a tough game on Tuesday (against defending state champion Overlake), and were short-handed again, being down four starters with vacations and injuries.Leading scorer against Lakeside was Lindsay Newlon, who scored three goals despite being injured. Rebecca Williamson scored twice, while Erika Holsman, Ashley Pedersen and Adrianne Moon each added a goal.Tommila credited tough play from Alana Martinez, one of the team’s senior captains.She’s playing way above herself on defense, with great intensity, focus and motivation, Tommila said. When she’s playing well, I know we’re going to win.The team picked up another game in the standings on Friday, when it registered what will go in the scorebooks as a 1-0 win against a badly overmatched Eastside club. They were two players short, Tommila said, and they had just lost to Overlake by 23-0 or something like that. So their coach suggested that we just scrimmage, which seemed like a good idea. I mean, nobody gains when you play a game like that, so we took a 1-0 win and just had fun.Tommila said her team has the potential to reclaim the state title, which Bainbridge had won four straight years before the last three runner-up finishes. I have no doubt we’ll play in the state championship game, she said. We got tested by two of the best teams in the state (Overlake and Lakeside). If you can overcome those teams without four starting players, that’s a pretty great testimony to where we’re at.Tommila said the Spartans’ winning tradition is a plus for this year’s team.These girls have seen their older sisters win state championships. That’s what got them into lacrosse, she said. They have a strong desire to get that big, beautiful trophy themselves.Comparing this squad to those of the last couple of years, Tommila said, We’re physically and mentally stronger. The core of this team is juniors – there are only three seniors on this team. So they have been developing and improving as a group. The coach said her objective for the second half of the season is to emphasize mental preparation. We need to keep the focus on our team, not on the other team. If we play Bainbridge lacrosse, we can beat anybody. A combined varsity/JV team is traveling to California this weekend to play in a high-school tournament at Stanford University. The California teams are pretty good, Tommila said. And they’re not on break, so they’ll have their whole teams. But our (combined) team is actually pretty good, so it should be fun.”