The Senior Lacrosse team makes history at the South West Rally

The Senior lacrosse team made history this weekend becoming the 2022 South West Rally Champions and taking home the South West trophy. The girls put on an excellent display of lacrosse at St Swithuns School, showing their unbreakable bond as a team, and managing to go undefeated for the whole tournament.

Westonbirt knew that they had to come out strong in the group stages as they were seeded with Monmouth, St Helen and Katharine, and Downhouse – all tough and talented opponents. The girls came out of the gates hard with a 6-0 win against Monmouth and a sterling performance by Katie C between the pipes and her sister Tamzin in defence. The team’s performance continued with a strong 5-1 win against Downhouse and a 7-2 win over St Helen’s and St Katherine’s, allowing them to finish the morning in first place of Section 1.

After setting their sights high in the morning, the team were reseeded for the afternoon and had matches against St Mary’s Calne, Sherborne and Queen Anne’s. Queen Anne’s was a tough game and they did well to niggle against the Westonbirt defence. However, with Erin B, Fran D and Hannah L keeping a tight knit unit, only allowing one goal, Westonbirt won 3-1.  The girls visibly relaxed with this win under the belt and stood strong against an energetic and spirited Sherborne side taking the match 4-0. Freya F and Imogen A continued to finish off lovely assists from the midfield unit and Martha A and Peighton R displayed great work in the attacking end.  In the last of the group stages, Westonbirt faced St Mary’s Calne and dealt well with their early crashing in defence and strong drives in attack. However, it was no match for the offence and with Taya D’s effective cutting, Ruby B’s clinical shots, and Carys J’s smart offensive calls, Westonbirt came away with a win of 4-2.

Following a successful group stage, Westonbirt had two more games to get their job done, and that started with the semi-final. Nerves were high as the semi-final saw us against Godolphin – an old rival throughout the years and an extremely talented team with a high lacrosse IQ. However, dodges by Sophie E and huge saves from Megan VT allowed the team to get through to the championship final with a 4-2 win.

As tiredness of the day drew in, the girls had one final push in the Championship final and were up against St Mary’s Calne who they had faced earlier in the day. St Mary’s Calne started with a clever and different game plan, and held the ball in offense to slow the pace of the game. However, the girls managed to keep their mental game strong, and in what resulted in a nail biter end to end match, they won the championship with the 4-3 win. It was an emotional day and to see the hard work over the years paid off was a fantastic feeling. Thank you to St Swithuns School for hosting such a great tournament and a huge well done to the girls for their outstanding performance.