In an away game against the University of Puget Sound on April 7, lacrosse lost 21-6, making it 0-8 for the season.

The Loggers had a previous win against the Wildcats this season, winning 19-4. Sophomore captain Rebecca Kropp went into the game excited by the chance to play with the team.

“We definitely have the skill and determination to play with them,” Kropp said. “Our attack has been working on moving the ball quicker and being a bigger threat, making the other team play defense.”

While the Wildcats have had a tough season, a close bond has formed between the mostly new members of the team.

“I think we will only lose two seniors next year so we have practically the whole team coming back,” Kropp said. “During games and at practice we all treat each other as equals and everyone always has something to offer no matter how experienced they are.”

Two away games in Southern California marked two more losses for lacrosse during spring break, but as Kropp explains, the team was not disappointed with the games.

“We played really well,” Kropp said. “Our first game was rough because we had two subs and Chapman had a full bench… so it was like we were playing two different teams.”

The Wildcats lost 25-2 in the Panther’s home game, gaining one goal each half, scored by senior Brittani Drost in the first half and sophomore Shelby Duarte in the second.

Freshman and regular goalkeeper Erika Phillipo returned to the field after sitting the last four games out due to an injury. She saved 11 attempted goals, bringing the total attempted goals made by Chapman to 44.

Losing by a smaller margin on March 27, the Wildcats lost 17-4 to the Whittier Poets.

“During the first game, our communication broke down at one point, and they had a huge run,” Kropp said. “We focused on that in our second game and we played our best defense of the year.”

The Wildcats were excited to see how their play benefitted from the increase in defensive support.

“We had some really nice transition fast breaks that we scored off of,” Kropp said. “So we know we can be really good, we just need to keep our confidence and communication up. If we do that, I think our last two games can go much better and differently than the first times we played Pacific and Puget Sound.”

The final game of the lacrosse season will be an away game at 6 p.m. April 12 against Pacific University in Forest Grove.

Olivia Marovich / Staff writer

Olivia Marovich can be reached at [email protected]