York women's lacrosse dominate

After last week's unfortunate loss, the lovely York lacrosse ladies were slightly hesitant to play Hull, a team the women had never encountered before. However, fuelled by jelly, vice-captain Elsie's mental preparation exercise and captain Kate's pep-talk, we were pumped up and ready to play some lacrosse.

First-year Helen Streeter got the game off to a good start, scoring the first goal of the match after only a few minutes. Despite a lot of scrappy play - including much fought over ground balls, some dodgy tackles and the occasional loopy pass - the game tightened up after Hull called a time-out in the first quarter. After the brief break, things improved and the game progressed at a fast pace. It is a testament to the time and effort put in by the whole team that our stick skills and basic understanding of the game were on top form. This allowed attackers Emily Lingard and last year's captain Sophie Close-Smith to add to the widening scoreline, leaving York 7-0 up at half time.

York continued to dominate the play in the second half, with Streeter scoring many of the goals in only her second match for York, winning her an army of fans on the sideline. "Helen Helen give us a wave" reverberated around the 22 acres after a particularly impressive goal, until one team member was heard to say good-heartedly, "Just give them a wave and they'll shut up!" The match also saw Elsie Blackshaw score her first goal in a competitive fixture, prompting much celebration amongst the girls on the pitch and the ever-present male support (plus megaphone).

Hull managed to get on the score-card in the second half after an excellent fast-break from number 6. However, overall, York's defence was strong, breaking down the attacking play in the mid-field before goalie Christiana Hambro was needed. When shots at goal were taken by the opposition, Hambro dealt with them flawlessly, clearing the ball up to the defence wings in the midfield. When the situation was reversed, however, York completely prevented Hull from clearing the ball out of the goalie circle, forcing Hull goalie Lauren to run up the pitch with the ball, prompting shocked expressions from the girls on the pitch and much cheering from the boys. The game ended as a 14-1 victory for York.

All in all it was a really fun afternoon. The Hull girls were a pleasure to play against, and the match ended with York wishing them well in the rest of their season and the potential of their team playing York Women's 2nds in a friendly match in the future. The support from the boys was much appreciated (even though referee Chris Armstong was forced to comment "Boys, behave like gentlemen, there are ladies present") and the day ended with both the boys and girls of the club slumped on the lacrosse sofa in the back bar of Ziggys. We really are everyone's problem.

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