Members of the women’s lacrosse team celebrate their 2021 state victory. According to Hanna, while many girls in this group graduated last year, the team aims to defend its state title. Photo from @CarmelGirlsLAX on Twitter

The women’s lacrosse team will compete against Penn High School in the Sectional Championship game on May 20, with the hopes of moving on to Semi-State and ultimately defending its state title.

While lacrosse has a state tournament, it is not an IHSAA sponsored sport. The state tournament is instead sponsored by the Indiana Girls Lacrosse Association (INGLA). According to head coach Joshua Miller, this is mainly because not enough schools in Indiana have lacrosse teams.

“The girls side has about 40 teams and the boys side has about 45-55 teams. So I assume that increasing that number would put the sport on the radar of the IHSAA,” he said. “I think it would be great if the IHSAA chose to sponsor the sport as it adds some legitimacy…The sport is definitely growing and I love to see new teams popping up.”

The women’s lacrosse team had a 14-2 record during the regular season, losing only to Guerin Catholic and an Illinois team. According to Sophia Hanna, member of the women’s lacrosse team and senior, Guerin will likely be the team’s toughest opponent during the tournament.

“If we meet them in the state final, that will definitely be the toughest game for us as they are a very strong and equal opponent,” she said.

Miller said he agreed.

“(The game against Guerin) was a tough game for us. We didn’t play well and really didn’t respond to some early challenges until it was too late. Guerin played well and took us out of any rhythm that we tried to establish. Their offense maintained possession for long stretches and that wasn’t something that we were used to. It was a very effective game plan,” he said.

Miller added that the team came together and had a great recovery during the second half.

“Defense played a great second half and only gave up two second half goals. We were down 3 or 4 with about 5 minutes left. We managed to make it a one-goal game because the team rallied around one another and made some plays at the end,” he said. “I hope we learned the value of every minute on the field.  Ultimately, we didn’t do enough to win that game, but I believe we did learn a lot.”

Hanna said her goals during the tournament are to focus on teamwork and to not take anything for granted.

“We are focusing on our 4 pillars of Teamwork, Consistency, Legacy, and Integrity the next few weeks leading up to the end of the tournament season,” she said. “We are making sure not to get ahead of ourselves and look at every game and practice as our last.”

Miller said he agreed, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and leadership.

He said, “We have strong, effective leaders this year and I expect that we will come together at the right time.”