The highest anticipated women’s lacrosse game of the year, the Jesuit Crusaders hosts the Lake Oswego Lakers in a rematch of last year’s state title game. The Lakers are coming in with a chip on their shoulder after losing back 2 back state titles to the Crusaders.
The Crusaders have started off hot this season 6-0 and have all the momentum they want with a healthy roster. The Lakers started off the year with two huge in-state wins then traveled down to California and lost all three games. The Lakers look to get a massive in-state win after a tough week down south.
The Lakers have a ton of firepower on this year’s offense with many division 1 commits such as senior Mairin Kelly (High Point), junior Barrett Doan (SDSU) and junior Millie Prager (William & Mary).
Jesuit junior captain Quinny Handley feels confident in their defensive plan.
“We plan to play really aggressive defense and make sure to press out on some of their better players so we have help on the eight meter.”
Handley also spoke about how important it is to dominate the midfield so LO doesn’t get any fast break opportunities.
Crusaders will want to focus on a stacked offense, in which Handley (Penn commit) dominates the ball and controls the tempo for the Crusaders. Handley sweeping over the top or a hard dodge down the alley is hard to get in front of. Gigi Abernethy (Bucknell commit) wins possessions for the Crusaders at the draw and helps score big goals for her team when it matters most.
Crusaders have yet to face an opponent of this caliber, junior captain Abernethy said.
“Tonight’s game will probably determine who will be number 1 seed heading into playoffs so it would be great to go out and get this win.”
The Crusader-Laker matchup has proven year after year these are the 2 top teams in the state.
The game starts at 7pm on Cronin Field.
