Crimson Tide introduces new varsity sport next week

Everett girls’ lacrosse gets going next Thursday at Somerville

  There’s a new sport in town, and Everett High School girls are anxious to try it out. Thanks to the efforts of coach Christina Buckley, the Crimson Tide athletic department now has lacrosse to offer for the female athlete in the school. The sport actually got its start in Everett last spring, but only with a club team that played a series of scrimmages against rivals Medford and Somerville.

  “We are a brand-new varsity program,” said Buckley. “Everett has not had a girls lacrosse program in decades, perhaps maybe never. Last year, we started a club team made up of 15 girls. We scrimmaged Somerville and Medford, and that was it. This year, we decided to create a full varsity program, competing against the GBL [Greater Boston League] teams that have lacrosse programs.”

  Buckley had 30 girls sign up to tryout and plans to carry 26 on the varsity roster. “We decided to keep a larger roster so that we could have Red vs. White scrimmages a few times a week to learn the rules and positional play faster,” the Tide coach said.

  The roster will consist of eight seniors, seven juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen, and their primary goal will be to learn the sport and improve every day. “Everyone on this roster is brand new to lacrosse with the exception of the girls who were briefly introduced to it last year,” said Buckley. “Defensively, I want the girls to focus on stopping an attack at midfield, communicating with each other, play on the ball defense and winning groundballs as often as possible. Offensively, I want to focus on spacing out around the 12-meter mark and being confident with the ball in their sticks, while attacking the goal.”

  Seniors Riley Avelar, Sophia Sousa and Cristina Snook; juniors Katherine Olivares Guzman, Brigitte Reyes Cortez, Camille Camilo and freshman Amanda Verterio have impressed the coach to date. “I’ve mostly been impressed by either their speed or their enthusiasm to learn the skills as quickly as possible,” she added. “Junior Khadija Ailane is set to be the goalie for the first time in her life, and she’s getting better with each practice.”

  Team captains are scheduled to be announced later today, March 31, while positions are slowly being determined based on performance in practice and from the Red vs. White scrimmages, according to the coach.

  It will all come together for the team’s first varsity game ever on Thursday, April 6, against host Somerville.