Monday, April 21, the girls’ varsity lacrosse team (4-5-0) won 19-9 against the McEachern Indians, securing a strong victory during their senior night. The crowd, despite remaining sparse in numbers, exemplified an encouraging school spirit, producing a positive game celebrating the seniors’ send-offs.
The girls’ varsity lacrosse team entered the first quarter of the game with a victorious mindset. Kicking off the game, junior midfielder Keating Ball (19) cleared the field to pass the ball to senior midfielder Bird Johnson (13); Johnson then assisted Ball’s first goal. Collaborating with the rest of her team, goalie Kayden Williams (96) played with determination and blocked six opposing goals in quarter one. In this period of the game, the team racked up points, one secured by Bella Arant (8), who marked her first goal of the night with a free shot. After a timeout called by NC, the first quarter ended (3-11) with no further scores. The second quarter saw no new goals until the last 30 seconds when Ball scored a short-range goal, securing NC four times the amount of points compared to McEachern (3-12).
During half-time, the varsity senior girls — Johnson, Arant and senior home attackman Jiyah Skipper (23) — briefly walked the field with their coaches, celebrating their graduation by running comedic loops with their arms open wide. This event preceded the senior night ceremony, but recognized the senior players for their irreplaceable service to the team.
“[Being a senior] is definitely very sad. I’ve been playing for over seven years, year-round; I’m not ready to let it go, but I have to. I love my team very dearly. Some of these girls are brand-new, but some of them I’ve been with my whole entire lacrosse career, as well as travel. It’s very sad to see that this bond won’t be as strong anymore — I’m definitely going to miss them,” Arant said.
Following half time, junior low attackman Saffron Laposata (29) passed the ball to Johnson, securing a score despite McEachern heavily guarding them. Further into the third quarter, the Indians scored a free position shot, but once Ball secured the ball and passed it to Johnson, the Warriors regained the point they lost to the opposing team (5-14). Moving into the fourth quarter, Ball and Johnson reinforced a victory with five goals, including a free shot, producing the win for the Warriors.
“As a whole, there were some really good moments. The draw control was great but we needed to play tighter because we need to prepare for an important game on Thursday; it’s our last region. Overall spirits were high because it’s senior night, but there are always things we can improve on,” head coach Alex Fahey said.
After the powerful victory, seniors from both the varsity boys and girls teams walked the field in celebration of their time at NC. Accompanied by their families and loved ones, players waved a bittersweet goodbye while the commentator announced trivia about the players. This included the length of their NC lacrosse career, their position, their future college and major, their favorite high school lacrosse memory, a word of advice from the player and a note from the coach.
Closing out the girls’ lacrosse senior night, families, coaches and fellow teammates congratulated each other and recognized the work and dedication the student-athletes put into their lacrosse career. Despite the sadness accompanying the seniors’ send-off, the game exemplified well-practiced teamwork and camaraderie, executing a perfectly bittersweet goodbye to the beloved seniors.
The Chant wishes these talented seniors good luck in their new chapters of life.
