Lacrosse has been on the rise lately in Wake County, and the Cougars didn’t hesitate to jump on the bandwagon. Lacrosse was added to our list of spring sports this season.

“Thus far, I think our season is going well, the girls are really excited about being a part of the sport, and they are eager to learn anything and everything they can about how the game is played,” coach Laura Pierrie said. “It is interesting to watch how the girls are transforming into lacrosse players so quickly. Their hard work and dedication is paying off, and I cannot wait to see how our first game will play out.”

Many students have showed an interest in the team this year.

“We had 41 girls on the first day of tryouts, which is fantastic. I was expecting to have about 20-25 girls, so this was huge surprise for me. During the first week, we ended up keeping over 35 girls on the team, which is really exciting for a first year program,” Pierrie said.

The fact that the team is new doesn’t stop the girls from working hard to be the best that they can be.

“Personally, I am practicing outside of school as I’m sure others are too. I run on the weekends and work on basic skills. We work together, encourage each other from the sidelines because we can see more of what is happening on the field than they can so we help them keep up,” senior Emily O’Brien said.

Many of the girls may have had different reasons for joining the team. Some are previous athletes, and some are just looking for a way to stay fit.

“What made me want to play lacrosse was always seeing myself as a more aggressive player when it came to sport. I’m up for a challenge to be fit and stay running through the game and use all the stick handling skills to succeed in scoring a goal,” sophomore Allison Fellenstien said.

Even sports like soccer and tennis were new sports at our school at one point. Girls’ soccer was added in 1990, but this is the lacrosse teams’ time to shine.

“I think it is going to be a fantastic season this year, as well as the next few years to come,” Pierrie said.  “We are a young team, so we have a lot of learning to do, but the girls are very enthusiastic and dedicated to the team, so I expect to see a lot of growth from the girls over the next few years. We will definitely be a team worth watching.”

O’Brien is optimistic that the team’s first season will play out well.

O’Brien said, “I think if we work hard every day at practice and play like we practice we’ll do pretty well. We’re a young team, but I feel like we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

And they are a force to be reckoned with. Even though the first game did not end how the team had hoped, they still had a lot of support from the large crowd of fans that came out to watch their first game.

The teams’ first game ended with a score on 3-12 against Enloe.

Erin Cima, who scored Wake Forest’s first ever Lacrosse goal, said that it was “overwhelming but exciting.” Despite the loss, Cima thought that “We still have a lot to improve on, but everyone is doing really good.”