Girls Varsity Lacrosse: Lady Cowboys Beat the Western Wild Wildcats and Win District Game

BY OLIVIA LEWIS

At 5:00 on February 27th, the Cooper City girls varsity lacrosse team began to play against the Western Wildcats. The game was tight at many points, but the girls eventually came out with a strong lead and won the game with a score of 13-8.

The girls came out strong, determined to defeat their rivals for many years now. The Wildcats won the first draw of the game and pushed it down towards the Cowboys defense. The Wildcats were able to run the ball around the crease and score the first goal of the game. The Cowboys didn’t let that stop them, winning the next draw. The energy in the players could be seen from the sideline as #7 Amanda Rivas took the ball in to score the first goal of the game. Soon after, the Cowboys gained possession again and moved the ball around the attack. #4 Olivia Lewis ran the ball around the crease and shot it above the goalies head, making the score 2-1. The Cowboys began to move quicker and gain more possession of the ball. Western won the next draw and took it down towards the defense. The Cowboys defense caused a turnover and brought the ball down to the attack, moving it around. #11 Florence Andreiu had the ball in her stick and saw Rivas open. She made the pass and Rivas ripped a shot on goal, scoring the third goal of the game. Western retaliated quickly and scored the next goal.

The Cowboys came out strong after the first water break and began to put more goals in the back of the net. Western was dominating the draws for the most of the game and bringing it down to the Cooper City defense. The defense didn’t allow any of the Western players to score goals for the rest of the half. Cooper City gained possession from the Wildcats and moved it around the attack. Lewis saw #2 Crystal Williams open and passed her the ball. Williams took a shot to the bottom left corner of the goal, making the score 4-2. The Cowboys held the Wildcats and continuously gained possession from them. Andreiu won the draw and passed it down to Williams. Williams started rotating the ball around to the other players. Rivas caught the ball behind the goal and ran it around the crease, scoring the final goal of the first half.

Cooper City had a ten minute pep talk after the first half and were ready to play when the referees blew the whistle. The Cowboys came out and won the first draw, bringing it towards the Wildcat defense. They slowed the ball down, trying to run out time on the clock. Lewis had the ball in her stick when Williams made a cut towards the goal. Lewis passed it and Williams shot to the upper right corner, making the score 6-2. Cooper City was dominating, running the score up. Rivas received the ball from Andreiu and ran it down behind the goal. Andreiu received the ball back and took a 1v1, beating her opponent and scoring. Andreiu took the draw and Lewis snatched the ball out of the air, tucking her stick so nobody would knock the ball out. Lewis ran the ball down and started passing it around. She received the ball back and ran it in, scoring the eighth goal of the game. Western starting to fight back, scoring two goals off of fouls committed by the Cowboys.

The game was coming close to an end, but that only made the girls fight harder. The Cowboys began to dominate the draw and win almost every one. Andreiu won the draw and ran the ball behind the goal. Girls made cuts, opening an area for her to run and take a shot. Andreiu roll dodged around a girl and scored the ninth goal of the game. She pushed the next draw towards Lewis who brought the ball down to the attack. Lewis passed the ball but then received it back from Williams. She ran it in and took a shot on the upper left corner of the goal, making the score 10-5. Western was able to gain possession of the ball on the next dra, driving it down towards the Cooper City goal. One of the Cowboys committed a foul on the Western player, giving them a free shot on goal. Western scored and was able to score two more after that. The Cowboys didn’t give up, still fighting for the win. Andreiu won the next draw and ran it down herself, making the score 11-8. “We played really well together as a team and I think we have a really good season ahead of us,” Andreiu said. Lewis gained possession on the next draw and ran it down behind the goal. Her coach yelled “red one” which is a play in which the player takes it straight to goal. Lewis ran it in and shot the ball, scoring the twelfth goal. With one minute left in the game, Lewis gained possession of the ball again and took it to goal, scoring the final goal of the game.

The Lady Cowboys fought extremely hard to beat their rivals, who they beat last year in overtime. It was a tight game in the beginning, but Cooper City was able to pull through and get the win. “We started off slow but towards the end of the game we were able to pick it up,” captain Kasey Allen said. “We played our game and ended up with the win.”

Final Score: Cooper City 13, Western 8