The Wayland Varsity Girls’ lacrosse team was finally able to fit two games into this past week, after having three of their games postponed, picking up their first two wins with a 16-4 triumph against Newton South Tuesday and a 13-10 victory over Dover-Sherborn on Wednesday.

The game started quickly with the Warriors’ offense dominating the Lions’ defense and midfield. Freshman home Bailey Morgan scored first for Wayland, her first goal of the season. Teammate Hanna Peper, a junior, followed Morgan by firing in the next three goals.

Wayland midfielders Katie Miller, Mel Sperling, and Lindsay Shelton then pushed for the next four goals. The entire midfield unit had a good game, which said a lot because many players were getting switched around into these positions. Wayland Coach Tracey Drown said, “Every player on our team contributed [to the game] in a number of ways.”

Wayland allowed no goals in twenty-five minutes, making it 9-0 at the end of the first half.

The Lions came out faster in the second half, scoring four times when they were able to break through the Warriors’ defense. But Wayland racked up another seven goals from Morgan and Sperling, as well as sophomore Haley Nickerson, and seniors Christine Cibotti and team captain Iris Irwin.

The final score of the game was 16-4, and it was Wayland’s first win of the season. “[It] was a total team effort to get a fantastic win,” commented Coach Drown.

The next day Wayland played Dover-Sherborn at home. The Raiders have always been a formidable opponent, so the Warriors needed to come out strong. Their offense was challenged by the Raiders’ defense, causing Wayland to use some new offensive plays, which proved to be successful. Junior Hanna Peper led Wayland in calling the plays from behind the Raiders’ cage.

Wayland was ahead of Dover-Sherborn going into the second half, but the Raiders re-entered the game a new team and battled to even the score. With just five minutes left, and the score at 10-9, Wayland finally pushed for three more goals from juniors Katie Miller and Mel Sperling.

The Warriors pulled it together and fought for the win. Junior Emily Pederson in cage led the Wayland defense to stay tight throughout the entire game. Pederson herself made some very important saves towards the end of the second half. “It was a true character test to see if we could hold onto a lead from start to finish,” explained Coach Drown.

Miller scored a total of five goals in the game, while Sperling scored seven, and Lindsey MacDonald scored one and had an assist. The final score was 13-10, an important win for the Warriors. The Warriors are now 2 – 1 in their season.

“This was a great win for our team,” commented Coach Drown. “Emily Pederson had an outstanding performance in goal and really led our defense.

Next week, the Warriors will face Arlington, Bedford, and Acton Boxborough. “All three of these teams are tough competitors and it is important that we stay focused on each opponent [so that we] achieve our goals throughout the game,” explained Coach Drown. “We need to play our game in order to pull out the victory.”

All photos were taken by Eilif Mikkelsen.