“If you get a basketball player, you get the best defensive footwork you’re going to see. If you get a soccer player, you get a player who understands angles on the field.” Elizabeth Landry, a senior midfielder who will play for UC Davis next year, started in soccer before switching to lacrosse in sixth grade. “There’s definitely a connection,” she said, “Especially in midfield. You constantly run back and forth from offense to defense.” On the boys’ side, a football player who understands contact might help a lacrosse team, but the rules are different for the girls, and body-checking is not allowed. “There is checking in girls’ lacrosse,” Jasso quickly clarified, “but it’s a finesse game. I think the game is progressing without bodychecking.” “Girls’ lacrosse is good the way it is right now,” said Landry. “The girls’ game is more about speed and skills.” Nonetheless, there is contact, and Jasso can see the game getting more physical. “You have to be comfortable with getting close to the offensive players if you want to stop them,” she said. “It’s becoming more like the boys’ game,” something Landry wouldn’t be that excited about. “It’s a lot more aggressive,” said Landry about the male version of the sport. “It would be fun for a day to play boys’ lacrosse — but only for a day.” But as the game evolves, it’s getting more
physical, just as it gets more physical in college. Jasso was excited at the chance for her girls to see some topflight NCAA teams at St. Mary’s College, where they got a good look at the most up-to-date West Coast lacrosse. Though the Bay Area version has a ways to go before it catches up to the Northeast, Jasso is optimistic the gap is narrowing. “In the five years I’ve been coaching here, I’ve seen the sport come a long way,” she said. Unfortunately, that progress has not been even. Though there are more strong programs in the area, there is still a wide gap between the top teams and those still building a program. “I always get asked ‘Why do you schedule the hard teams at the start of the season?’” Jasso said, but it’s because the Dons haven’t lost a DFAL game in three years. “It’s so hard to play 12 games against weaker opposition,” and she wishes the league played a single round-robin instead of a double round-robin. As it is, 12 of her 20 allotted games must be against DFAL teams that Acalanes has little trouble beating, as league scores such as 22-5, 17-3 and 17-0 suggest. The closest games have been two three-goal wins over Miramonte. “Everyone’s scared of them because they’re so talked-up,” said Chloe Hull, an attacker for Campolindo. “They’re really tall — you have trouble defending because they can see over you.” “They’re really aggressive,” added Amanda
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Forshay, a Campolindo defender, “and they have really good midfielders.” That relatively weak league competition has not prepared Acalanes for postseason play, which has been a problem in the past. “It hurts us,” said Landry. “We’re not used to the level of play we see in NCS.” This year, though, Jasso is hopeful that it will all come together for the Dons in the NCS playoffs. “It would be great to win an NCS title,” said Jasso. “I have nine seniors and this group has been playing together for a long time. They work hard and they deserve it.” “If we ever want to win it,” said Landry, “now is our chance.” It will be a little easier in 2011, as for the first time, NCS has split lacrosse into two di-
visions, with Acalanes falling into Division II, away from perennial powers Carondelet and Monte Vista. That doesn’t mean it’s a free ride, though, as Marin Catholic-Kentfield is also an outstanding team. The Wildcats have lost only once, to St. Ignatius-S.F. by two, and the Dons lost to S.I. by seven. Davis (which plays in NCS because the Sac-Joaquin Section doesn’t have postseason lacrosse) and Miramonte are also strong programs, but even if Acalanes falls short, Jasso won’t necessarily be disappointed. For Jasso, the sport is a medium that allows the growth of girls into young women. “This is someplace they can feel really strong,” she said. “My goal is to have these girls find their voice.” ✪
May 12, 2011
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