Team work, skill, and spirit: the three keys to a successful sports season. According to coach Gina Hormes, the women’s JV lacrosse team has all three elements.
The team of 21 girls won all four of their out-of-conference games against other county teams. The team’s in-conference record this year is 7-1, with victories against all their competitors except Archbishop Spalding.

“Our most difficult game of the year was against Spalding,” Hormes said.

According to Hormes, being “on Spalding’s turf” presented difficulties for the team. The game was spent “battling unsportsman-like conduct,” as well as “challenging officials.” To top it all off, the team was down one player because she had received too many yellow cards during the game to continue playing.

Despite the loss, the team played the rest of the season flawlessly, accepting no more losses. It was at their April 4 game against McDonough where Hormes saw the essence of her team.

“We figured out then that no matter where we played and who we played, we could beat them,” Hormes said. The Lady Patriots won 11-7.

Hormes attributes the JV season of success to “their ability to play as a team” as well as their “relentless defense.”

Sophomore defense player Olivia Stepanian believes that the key to her team’s success is “working hard.” According to Stepanian, everyone on the team has “high energy” and “supports each other.”

Hormes’ expectation of the team is not for the girls to win games or have a perfect season, but rather, for the team “to improve their skills to make the next step to the varsity level.”

To achieve this, every day there is not a game, practice is an hour and a half and consists of “dynamic warmups, some balls skills on the dominant and the weak side, some team tactics, scrimmaging, [and] conditioning.”

There is more to the team’s practice than improving their skills, though. Stepanian describes practices with her team as “crazy.” Before their last practice, the locker room was filled with tutus and body paint. “It’s Olympic day,” she said.

The team divided into three groups, all themed after a movie, and each group will compete in different activities during practice. Stepanian was in the 101 Dalmatians themed group, competing against The Power Rangers and The Incredibles.

“They’re a good bunch of talented girls, and they learned to come together as a team,” Hormes said. “That’s how you win games.”

Lauren Glase is a News Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com