by Olivia Pilecki ‘26
Head Coach Judy Bailey and the girls lacrosse team look forward to finishing off their season with a couple more wins while holding a current record of 2-11.
With the majority of the team being freshmen, they knew that there would be a lot of space for all of the players to grow and learn. Expectations were set, but having fun was a priority as well. “We have a really big freshman class who came in, and they make up pretty much half of our team,” senior striker Co-captain Kami Tarantino said. “That’s crazy, but that has been really beneficial and great to the team. The biggest goal was to have fun, have a competitive season, and really just connect and bond as a team.”
As a co-captain, Tarantino prioritized not just making this season memorable for her, but for the rest of her teammates as well, both on and off the field. “I’m always trying to make sure I’m holding myself accountable,” Tarantino said. “As a senior, I really have to take charge. So I would say more pressure, but pressure in a good way. [I’m always] making sure everyone has energy at practice and is keeping their heads up even when sometimes the score is really not going our way. We always make sure to persevere.”
When freshman striker Scarlett Bourgoin was asked about how her captains were able to keep the whole team bonded and the environment positive during tough times in her season, she had nothing but great things to say. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen any of our captains or seniors grouchy on the field,” she said. “They just make fun out of it even if we’re losing. None of them get upset, they’re all just playing and we’re all happy.”
To start off the season, the team dealt with a tough loss against Greenwich Country Day. “We didn’t really work with each other and we didn’t understand plays,” Bourgoin said. “We were just kind of out there.”
Unfortunately, when the Wyverns faced off against the Pomfret Griffins a couple of days later, the weather conditions were not in their favor. “I’d say the worst game this season so far was Pomfret,” Bourgoin said. “It was pouring in 30-degree weather. Nobody could feel their fingers, let alone hold their stick. That was a rough one.”
Fortunately, the Wyverns were able to bounce back from these tough losses and started to connect as a team on the field. When asked how her team has been able to deal with all of the adversity, Coach Bailey gave a rundown of the season. “This is my 20th year doing the varsity team [and] I’m really pleased with what’s happened this season,” Coach Bailey said. “The big thing this year was that we go into every game ready to work hard and to compete, and we’ve done that regardless of the outcome. That’s been really exciting to see. One of our main goals is that as a team, we get better every day and as individuals, we get better every day. I feel like I’ve seen both those things happen. Every day they come out, they work hard, and we have fun.”
Coach Bailey then talked about how she’s been able to provide each of her players with a boost of confidence before every game. “We were away a lot to start, so we’d get on the bus, and I tried to find quotes that would help them through the game,” Coach Bailey explained.
In addition to this new tradition of finding pre-game motivation, the team has come up with a motto that represents who they are as a team and focuses on what they can and cannot control, which has helped them greatly. “This year, our team’s tagline is ‘Be the Ant,’ which is so funny, but it’s great because ants are small, but they’re mighty,” Coach Bailey said. “They’re strong individually, and when they come together, they can accomplish so much. Another thing we always remind ourselves is that when we go into our games, we focus on what we can control. We can control how hard we play, we can control how positive we stay, we can control what we give out on the field, the support we provide each other from the sidelines or on the field.” Things like weather, referees’ choices, and field conditions aren’t always predictable, so the team has tried to just focus on things they can control headed into a game.
Having finished a successful building season, both for skills and camaraderie, the team can guarantee that they will hit the ground running in the 2025 season!
