After a successful 14-3 season last year in girls’ lacrosse, the team will need a revamp due to the losses of most of their varsity roster and head coach. Senior Ally Hendrickson thinks there will have to be a lot of changes on the field to find out what will work best.
“I think we’re going to have to see who can step up,” Hendricks said, “we’re going to need to figure out who can play where and possibly need to switch up positions.”
Three years in a row there has been a new head coach for the team. Even though it has presented many challenges it has also presented new opportunities. Hendrickson likes the new head coach Steve Werntz because of his feel for the game.
“He’s already looked into our film and has great ideas for the season, so I’m confident that he knows what he is going to do.” Hendrickson said.
Werntz knows there may be challenges when coaching a new team, but sees it as a fun challenge and is ready to do his job.
“The best day of the year is the first day of lacrosse season,” Werntz said. “I’m excited to be coaching at Prospect.”
Junior Bri Banser has improved during the offseason by playing for Second City, a club team for lacrosse. But, also working on different skills with the team so they have good chemistry.
“We all played club together at Second City,” Banser said. “We also go on runs together and play catch.”
Hendrickson sees that the program is growing with talent because there’s so many new players trying out.
“There’s a lot of new freshmen coming in and there’s more than ever before,” Hendrickson said. “It’s good to see that because more people are wanting to play.”
The team really wants to focus on the key details while playing lacrosse. Theywork on stick work or even play wall ball (catch against the wall) to prepare them for games.
“A lot of us have gotten better with our off hand and just overall agility, speed and skills, so during the open gyms everyone is able to do the little things a lot better than last year,” Hendrickson said.
Werntz foresees the team to be good even though he hasn’t been with the team for long. However,assistant coach Meghan Zievel has been a huge help for Werntz because she’s been with the team long enough to know what they need to work on.
“We’re in the first week of practice,” Werntz said. “I’ve been impressed with how the girls prepared themselves for the season. Coach Z has been invaluable with her knowledge of the game and our players.”
Banser has high expectations for the team after a very successful season last year. Despite her optimism, she knows it will be tough to live up to those expectations this season, but she believes the team can do it.
“The team’s expectation this year is to go undefeated,” Banser said, “last year we had three losses and this season we want zero.”
Hendrickson knows things might not be the same as last season since they have a lot of new players and most importantly a new coach, however the team just needs to trust the process.
“I feel like there’s gonna be a little bit of a rough patch in the beginning, but … with our coach last year at the beginning there was some getting used to it, but that was the best we’ve ever done in a season,” Hendrickson said.
Werntz believes the program will be successful in upcoming years because of how much talent girls’ lacrosse brings to Prospect.
“Lacrosse is unique in that every player needs to understand the game as well as the point guard in basketball or the quarterback in football,” Werntz said. “In a game, there are lots of decisions that have to be made quickly while running and [while] people are chasing you with sticks. It can be overwhelming. We’ve introduced principles-based offense and defense. This approach helps our talented players coordinate their efforts at a fast pace.” Werntz said.
Werntz wants to set a strong example of what it means to be a successful program and how to represent Prospect.
“When we look back at the end of the season, we expect that everyone has taken their next growth step. “That we’ve represented Prospect High School well. We expect a deep playoff run again this year. Come watch us play and experience the fastest game on two feet.”
