In the second round of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 3 tournament, the Bromfield girls varsity lacrosse team lost against Foxborough High School. Although the Trojans lost by a margin of 18-7, and with this year’s challenges behind them, the team is looking on the bright side.
Bromfield went into the tournament with a record of 5-12 and seeded 13th out of 34 teams. They faced North Middlesex in the first round, Monday, June 6, cleanly beating them 19-4, their strongest win of the season. North Middlesex, ranked 20th with a record of 7-11, was an easy win for the Trojans, who had spent their season playing challenging teams ranked above them in their division.
Foxborough, seeded fourth with a record of 16-2, proved a decidedly bigger challenge for the Trojans. Foxborough won most of the draws, setting the tone for the game. They also played aggressively on defense, requiring that Bromfield attempt less familiar plays, which threw the Trojans off. Eighth-grader and second-highest scorer Ryan Pinney recalled that it had been a strong contrast to their game against North Middlesex, in which they could score by cutting to the net.
Pinney made 45 goals and six assists this season, behind junior and captain Kristen Podgorni, who was No. 2 in the MidWach A League with 80 goals and 31 assists.
Pinney said they knew they were facing a stronger team, but that the Trojans still let themselves down. “We came off pretty strong in the first half and then started to lose our momentum in the second,” she said. “We ended the game on a low note without much energy or excitement.” Freshman Hanna Wicks similarly said, “We definitely tend to come out stronger than we end up playing. I think that sometimes we get in our heads that we’re going to lose and we do lose.”
This pattern of not finishing strong has been a challenge for the Trojans throughout the season, likely due to their light roster and young players. Junior Cavanna Aldrich said it was a difficult adjustment, switching out seven seniors for younger players, and that they spent their season building up skill and chemistry. “Since a lot of the players were younger, we hadn’t really played a ton together. But by the end, we definitely had a groove going,” she said.
Pinney agrees that they’ve taken advantage of the season and improved in all aspects. “I think it all really came together in the end,” she said, “I think we all really proved how far we’ve come as a team by even making it to that round.”
