Cinnaminson girl’s lacrosse has gone on two lengthy winning streaks this season, one at the beginning of their schedule, and now one close to the post-season thanks to a 19-5 win on Saturday over Williamstown.
The victory, the 11th of the season for the Pirates, gives the team a five-game winning streak as the post-season moves closer.
This is just a stepping stone in the Pirates goal to “climb the mountain” in 2015.
“I think that phrase, ‘climb the mountain,’ means so much to them,” head coach Laura Curran said. “As the season progresses, you always come across challenges and it comes down to what you do in those situations. Are you going to fall and not work to win the next game or are you going to power through and make the changes that you need to?”
The other win streak lasted six games and the Pirates have the opportunity to match that on Monday night at Rancocas Valley.
Cinnaminson scored the first three goals of the game on Saturday, with Grace Shallow netting two of them. She would finish with six and then enjoy some much-needed rest for most of the second half.
Williamstown got on the board at 18:40 of the first half, but would only go on to score four more goals. In fact, Williamstown would score four of their five goals in the first half.
The Pirates held a 13-4 halftime lead, which led to Coach Curran getting her starters some needed rest and the younger players some time in a varsity game.
“It’s definitely important. It gives those girls a chance to experience a varsity game and give them a little confidence. It is also good for the coaches so we can see what the future holds as far as what we have skill-wise and player-wise. I always love that opportunity to get other girls in and to get the starters a break.”
Shallow led all scorers with 6 goals, Morgan Gares and Shannon Forbes each had 3 and there were four other goal scorers for the Pirates.
The Pirates transition game was stellar on Saturday.
“One of our weaknesses earlier was the transition,” Curran said. “We tend to hold onto it because we know we’re possessing it and we don’t want to take that risk of passing. Now that the transition is no longer an issue of ours, we are looking to fix other aspects of our game. It’s been a huge success trying to make that a strength of ours, especially towards the end of the season.”
Cinnaminson’s game on Monday against Rancocas Valley girls’ lacrosse is scheduled for a 6:30pm start. The Pirates will be out for revenge on Monday, having dropped a home game to RV 16-3, which ended their six-game win streak earlier in the season.
Coach Curran said that the Pirates will need their intensity to be present from start to finish on Monday.
“Sometimes we have it (intensity) as a team, sometimes we don’t. We need to have it at minute-one. Sometimes it comes at minute 45, late in the game and sometimes it comes at minute-five. We can’t slack off at all. Our intensity has to be on-point, minute-one, and it has to last the entire time.”
