With nine seniors gone from last year’s club that went 3-11 (0-5 in the Independent Conference), the Parkway North girls lacrosse team are creating a new identity.
The Vikings showed its scrappy side on Friday in a 8-5 loss to Hazelwood West. Parkway North kept the score tied at two and came back from a five-goal deficit to make it interesting before running out time with with a 8-5 loss.
“They’re stepping up,” Parkway North coach Marcia Barasch said. “They are having to form a new team again.”
Junior Renee Fleddermann netted three goals for the Vikings who are 0-3 on the season.
Fleddermann and Samantha Thomas each scored early and matched the Wildcats’ first two goals before falling behind 5-2 at the half. Fleddermann reached the back of the net to start the second half to make it a two-goal game.
But the Wildcats ran off three unanswered goals to make it 8-3 late in the second half.
“They communicated better and were charged up,” Barasch said. “They came ready to play the game.”
North senior Alex Stueckel scored with 3:36 to play and Fleddermann netted her sixth goal of the season with 1:20 to play.
“They played well, they played cohesively,” Barasch said. “They brought a lot of energy on the field.”
While Thomas and Fleddermann have carried the offense lately, the Vikings do have a nice option in Stueckel and gets strong defense from Erica Vachalek and Keana Monroy-Gill.
The Vikings will be at Parkway Central on Thursday at 4:15 p.m., and will host Parkway West on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
The Wildcats hummed along and made smart, crisp passes.
“We controlled tempo,” Wildcats coach Mike 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.
