Girls/Non-Binary Ultimate had a tough loss against Lexington High School (Lexington) on Tuesday. Despite the loss, the team showed noticeable improvement, competing hard throughout the game.
Jeannie Kang ’28 described how the team practiced leading up to the matchup.
“We have been working on different game strategies for the past few weeks. We learned four or five new defense and offense strategies depending on the other side’s approach, and we also learned about this team a lot more, but we mostly focused on how we would respond to zone defenses or in-person defenses so that we’re not confused,” said Kang.
Players entered the game with a relaxed and positive mindset, as Ming-Yi Tang ’29 reflected.
“We were mostly relaxed. We wanted to have fun. Honestly, there wasn’t too much pressure that our coach put on us. It was mostly a fun experience,” said Tang.
Despite not taking home the win, Emma Tan ’29 pointed to improvements in coordination on the field.
“It was one of our better games because people were more coordinated with their throws, and the chemistry between all the players was better because we were making more completions. We did this thing when they ran zone defense on us when Jane [Hlavaty ’28] and [Co-Captain] Iris [Liu ’26] were handling, they did a really good job swinging back and forth to each other to keep possession of the disc,” said Tan.
Kang discussed the challenges posed by Lexington’s strategy and how the team adapted as the game progressed.
“They ran a vertical stack and we have not really been preparing defense against vertical stack, so that was kind of confusing, but we eventually figured it out. We learned as we went and it eventually ended up really well,” said Kang.
Tang highlighted standout players and team leadership during the game.
“Angela [Wang ’29] did a really good job, also Tiffanie [An ’29], because at one point she was handling and she did really well. Our [Co-Captains], Niki [Tavakoli ’27] and Selene [Xu ’27], were cheering us on a lot and sometimes they didn’t have as many breaks. Our coach put them on a lot, but they still did really well, and they had really good endurance,” said Tang.
Looking ahead, Kang emphasized using this loss as an opportunity for growth.
“It’s a new opportunity since this was especially a harder team, and for us to grow and get better, especially with the tournament this weekend and a scrimmage on Thursday,” said Kang.
Girls/Non-Binary Ultimate will compete at the Southern Main Invitational jamboree on Sunday, and will face Somerville Ultimate next Thursday.
Editor’s Note: Jeannie Kang is a Commentary Staff Writer for The Phillipian.
