Loose and lively, fluid and fun.
The Hazelwood West girls lacrosse team is finally a little of all of the above.
In just its third year of playing competitively, the Wildcats are starting to get the hang of things.
Coach Mike Vaughn, an assistant the previous two seasons to Kelly Russell, is taking advantage of a determined senior class.
Against Parkway North, the team earned its first win of the season with a 8-5 victory that wasn't as close as the score indicated. Friday's showing was a better bona fide effort than the previous two outings of 2010.
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The Wildcats hummed along and made smart, crisp passes.
"We controlled tempo," Vaughn said. "If we can do that, we can be great."
Senior Summer Issa gave West a 3-2 lead midway through the first half on a smooth goal. Classmate Melissa O'Neal followed with a goal off a rebound and Krysta Swalley's goal put the Wildcats ahead 5-2 going into halftime.
Issa keyed another run at the 13-minute mark of the second half. Her goal set off responses from senior Michelle Keeven and sophomore Rianne Holzmeyer that made it 8-3.
West lost two winnable games to start the year. Ladue got the upper hand in a 15-11 match and Kirkwood defeated the Wildcats 10-6.
"They take the losses harder this year," Vaughn said. "They get down on themselves when they know they could have done better."
Vaughn brings back a handful of seniors from last year's 4-7 (2-2 in Independent Conference play) club.
O'Neal has been with the program since it started along with seniors Juli Folkerts and Abigail Feldmann.
After that trio, the rest have been JV only. But that JV team went a respectable 9-4.
After two seasons getting dealt 10-point losses left and right, West has learned to lose with grace.
"We've kept our mouth closed and have started getting the respect," Vaughn said.
The Wildcats are starting to have more respect for themselves.
With confidence comes an upbeat mentality and there is no denying that the team now has a better a better understanding of the workings of the sport.
But it's still Hazelwood West. This year's JV roster is made up of players who never picked up a stick before this spring.
"It's a lot of fun. As a coach you want to see people get better every day," Vaughn said. "From the first day of practice until even now we see a huge progression."
The Wildcats will be at Marquette on Thursday at 4:15 p.m.
