Although largely viewed as “practice,” the fall lacrosse season provides the boys an expectation for their competition in the spring and an opportunity to hone in on specific skills. The lacrosse game against the Etowah Eagles on October 4th did exactly that for the team, despite losing 11-4, brought the Warriors’ record to 1-2. 

During the first half of the game, senior midfielder Trenton Nolen and junior attackman Braden Coates racked up two goals for the NC lacrosse team, closing the Eagle lead to just one goal. The team came to win by playing their best during the first half but unfortunately began to falter during the second half. 

“I think because of our lack of numbers, the team felt a lot more tired during the second half. Etowah had a much bigger team than us, and that is when we began to lag behind,” said Nolen. 

Magnet senior attackmen Reagan Mullinax and Nolen added two points to the scoreboard during the second half but unfortunately could not keep up with the Eagles. Despite the score not in the Warriors’ favor, the offense looked promising with four of the eight offensive stands resulting in a goal. While NC struggled at face-offs, the defense tried their best to hold the Eagles from dominating on offense. NC’s defense did take a hit due to the game taking place on fall break and several players in this position missed the game. 

“Offense did not have the chance to have the ball much because of missing so many players on defense, so it was difficult to get any points up,” said Mullinax. 

Luckily, the game highlighted the skills that need more time spent working on during practice, so for this reason, the boys did not feel defeated. Players look forward to spring because their numbers of teammates will increase and practices will become more consistent. The Etowah Eagles did win over the Warriors, but not NC knows what to expect for the official spring season.