Let’s Celly! The Lady Bees have games coming up against Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy on March 12, away; March 20, against Padua at home; March 21, away at Orange; and April 4, away at Hoover.
The Lady Bees are planning to win more games than last year and push farther into the playoffs. Junior, Katie Delahunty plans to help foster a closer team. “I’d like everyone on our team to get along, and most importantly, have fun together. [I’d also like to see everyone] get better statistics on ground balls, fewer turnovers, and more successful rides.”
According to teammates Mallory McCrodden and Kasaundra Pindor, juniors, one player to watch this season is sophomore Hannah Oswick. She’s determined and has a strong mindset coming into the season. She worked hard last season, and will work even harder this season. Senior, Gabby Svoboda has a good understanding of where to be on defense and can take any instructions given to her, making amazing plays. Being a senior is her incentive to play her best season yet, and it shows.
According to Pindor, One underclassmen who sticks out to their teammates as being a big contributor in future years is Cate Gutridge. She plays in the off-season on club teams. She has shown to be helpful, and her skills are beyond a typical freshman. “Her knowledge of the game is very high, you can tell she cares about the sport to keep working to get even better,” says Pindor.
McCrodden says freshman Jayla Collard is another girl to watch. “Both girls play club in the offseason and show amazing skill when it comes to speed and ball control as well as lacrosse IQ. I’m so excited to play with both of them and continue to see their skill level grow.”
Jamie Robatin has been the coach for a long time and he always makes an effort to connect with the team.
Katie Delahunty, junior, says, “Our new coaches this year are Karli and Leah Shutts. Karli is strong and proactive when it comes to our practices. She does CrossFit and coached all of our preseason practices as well. Leah was a defender at Mount Union and always has the best constructive criticism. Coach Robatin ( head coach) has been my coach for my entire high school career. He does a good job understanding each player’s playing style, and knows each of us inside and out.“
“[Some of the team’s strengths are] working together and keeping a positive attitude. So far, the team has a great connection and everyone is always lifting each other up when something goes wrong. A big thing that our coach says is to never say sorry and do better next time, ” says Mccrodden.
Delahunty says, “We are very good at working together under pressure. We communicate and work through issues together on and off the field.”
“Even though it is less aggressive than boys lacrosse, it is perceived to be less interesting to watch. The skills we need to have because of getting less physical is even greater and something that is underappreciated when others watch,” says Pindor.
Mccrodden touches base on what appears to be their most challenging teams. She says, “Chardon, we barely won last year, so it will be a close game this year. Also, Wadsworth was a close and physical game, so I think that it will be the same this year. As well as Hudson, they have an amazing program of strong and well conditioned girls. We struggle to keep up with them each year, but the gap between points has been getting smaller and smaller, which is proof we are getting better as a team.“
Bee sure to come out and see the Lady Bees Lacrosse do their thing this season!
