Currently standing at fourth place in the SCIAC Conference with a 4-3 record, the Occidental lacrosse team is hoping to move up the ranks in the second half of the season, according to goalie Andie Angelacci (junior).
Despite opening the season with a loss to Pomona-Pitzer, over spring break and the week leading up to it, the team has experienced consistent wins, according to midfielder Kelly Peir (first year).
“We’ve had a recent string of wins and now we have a winning record,” Peir said. “Things are starting to finally come together. We’re starting to really get each other as a team.”
Lacrosse started its season against the number one ranked team in the SCIAC, Pomona-Pitzer. According to the SCIAC website, Occidental lacrosse has racked up a total of four wins and three losses so far this season, with half of those wins occurring during spring break. Notably, the team recently beat Whitman college 20-1 March 12, a game during which Peir also scored her first two collegiate goals.
According to midfielder Ellie Mahoney (sophomore), it is traditional for the lacrosse team to travel to other schools during spring break for out of conference games. Mahoney said that the break is a nice period for the team to try new things and work on their plays.
“We didn’t travel at all this year, but other teams came to us, and we played Calvin [University], and next week we’re going to play Willamette University,” Mahoney said. “These [games] are informal […] I always like those games because the stakes don’t feel as high.”
Mahoney won SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week for her efforts in recent games against Whitman and Redlands.
Mahoney said that while the team did not travel for spring break this year, the time was a nice opportunity for teammates to bond on campus.
“We got to have some fun team activities and then we did end up getting the last Friday and Saturday [of break] off,” Mahoney said.
Peir said the team held tailgates after games and went out to lunch a couple times to celebrate one of her teammate’s birthdays.
Angelacci said that it has not only been a good season so far — with the team pulling wins in many close games — but also her favorite season. Angelacci also won SCIAC Defensive Athlete of the Week for her many goal saves during games against Calvin University, Cal Lutheran and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
“Even when we lose it doesn’t affect us as much,” Angelacci said. “Sometimes when we lost in the last few seasons it kind of brought us down a little bit, but I think the team culture is really good this year.”
Angelacci said she attributes this shift in attitude both to the fact that the team is closer this year, but also to new head coach Sierra Slack ‘18.
“She’s been a really positive voice on the team, which I think has encouraged people to remain positive throughout games and also play to their abilities,” Angelacci said.
Peir said that Slack does a good job of focusing on individual development.
“She does a lot of additional stuff so that each person kind of gets an individual experience,” Peir said. “But I also think she really encourages team playing [and] working together.”
Mahoney said she feels like Slack also collaborates well with the team’s assistant coach, Boz Crowther.
“She just is in tune with our team,” Mahoney said. “[She’s] actively making changes, listening to what we need, listening to what we want to work on.”
Angelacci said while the team has consistently placed in fourth place for the past two years, she is hopeful that the team has a chance of climbing the ranks this year. Particularly, she said she is looking forward to playing Chapman again, as their previous matchup was a close game. Chapman currently stands at third in the conference, just one rank above Occidental.
“It was a really hard game and I really think we can beat them,” Angelacci said. “I know our team’s abilities and I think we can pull it out.”
Occidental lacrosse will play next against Willamette University, March 27 at 7 p.m.
Contact Michelle Teh at teh@oxy.edu
