Windsor pushes record to 8-6 on the year
The Lady Jaguars are nearing the end of a great spring lacrosse campaign, logging four wins in their last five outings to push their league mark to 7-4 and 8-6 on the year.
Making the run all the more impressive is the fact that they’ve done it the hard way, with Windsor playing all of its second-half games on the road due to a home field renovation.
The Lady Jags recorded arguably their biggest win of the season on April 16 with an exciting 13-10 victory over second place Justin Siena, following up that effort with a 20-2 non-league rout over Alhambra.
“I’d like to think we are equals and that win (over Justin Siena) proved it,” assistant coach Aaron Piotter said. “We were down two goals at halftime, four a few minutes into the second half and then mounted a tremendous comeback. We outscored them 9-2 the rest of the way.”
Hailey Toste turned in a stellar performance, scoring a school record eight goals. Also scoring a hat trick with three goals was Elka Piotter, despite playing most of the game on defense.
“It was our best team win of the season and took a collective effort,” Aaron Piotter noted.
The emergence of Toste as a dangerous scoring threat has taken some heat off of leading scorer Elka Piotter, combining to form one of the top one-two punches in the league.
Also enjoying strong seasons for the Jaguars are first-year midfielder Katie Todd, and a trio of sophomores that feature Callie Cooper, Savanah Smith and Rebecca Hernandez.
“We affectionately call them the ‘Three Amigas’ and they are contributing nicely at the midfield,” Aaron Piotter said. “Attackers need to be great with their sticks and driven to score while defenders need to communicate and be ready for contact. Midfielders need to be both as they run the whole field.”
Other standouts have been senior defensive anchors Kelly Berndt and Gianna Davis and all-league goalie Paige Dieckmann. In addition, attackers Cassie Mann and Kaitlyn Dalton provide reliable sticks and great depth for the offense.
At the start of play this week Casa Grande was undefeated in league with an 11-0 record, followed by Justin Siena (8-3), Windsor (7-4) and Cardinal Newman (6-6).
The Jaguars will close out the league campaign on April 22 (after press time) and visit Northgate in a non-league match on April 23 (7 p.m.). Windsor is also a good bet to land a spot in the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs next month.
