By RUSSELL JONES
Otter Valley will not field a varsity girls lacrosse team this season. However, they hope to have a varsity squad in the future, and this year’s junior varsity squad is helping to pave the way for that.
“One of the things the girls are really good at is working together,” coach Allison Lowell said. “Because of the low numbers they know when to switch out with a defender to make breaks for themselves.”
The Junior Varsity Otters girls lax team will not be deep, having only 12 on the roster, but they are young and hope to develop skills that will put them in good position next season. Leah Pinkowski has been named team captain.
“They communicate really well together,” Lowell said. “They’re good at talking to each other both on and off the ball, which is key.”
Lowell said their toughest matches will be against Hartford or Champlain Valley Union because they are bigger schools and will be able to wear the Otters down with more numbers. They have a difficult early schedule with road games against Hartford, Mt. Abraham, and Burr and Burton before home games against Hartford and Stratton. They will finish off the season with two in a row against an always dominant CVU team.Co-coach Alyson Callahan said they have more girls who are interested in middle school lacrosse than ever before. Hopefully, that will help build the program in coming years.
