Taryn Barrenchea watches her shot fly to the net at Churchill County Regional Park.
Oasis Academy’s Lady Bighorns lacrosse team split their games last week, claiming a win against Spanish Springs but a loss against Truckee/North Tahoe.
During Friday’s Truckee/North Tahoe match, Oasis lost 14-11. Oasis coach Lisa Swan said the team was in a good groove at the start of the game. The Lady Bighorns scored the first goal and had a strong offense and defense — the teams were locked in a back-and-forth tie. The first half ended with Oasis ahead by one.
The second half was equally close. Swan said Maiya Swan and Sadie O’Flaherty won most of their draws. As the half progressed though, Oasis fell behind — with five minutes left, coach Swan said they were down one point.
They tried to recover, with Maiya Swan grabbing a ground ball to race it across the field for a goal. With two minutes left though, the Lady Bighorns crashed and gave up two goals.
The coach noted their goalie percentages for the match had issues. She said Audrey Rasmussen was at 10 percent saves while Madison Brennan was at 20.
“That killed us,” Swan said.
Saturday’s game against Spanish Springs was completely different, ending in a 15-9 win. Swan said they were hot right from the start, gaining a 5-0 lead in the first half. The Cougars came back in the second half and closed in; Oasis pulled back ahead though and regained a strong lead.
“Once we got to about 10, we didn’t look back,” Swan said. “The girls were right on.”
The coach said the team played strong defense. Rasmussen and Brennan returned as goalies with 20 percent saves. Swan said the numbers are still a problem, but there is improvement.
During practices the goalies have been training to improve their saves and other players have been trying their hand at the position.
“We have the highest amount of shots … but we also have way too many goals in for as many shots as we have,” Swan said. “If we can get a goalie who can move quicker, have better reflexes, then our shots on goal will be lower and we can move up to second place.”
Along with the goalie training, she said she made some changes to their offense and defense to improve their stopping power.
Oasis’s next game is tonight against Reno High in Reno — in their last game, the Lady Bighorns won 13-8. Next week, they play Galena for the final game of the regular season. There will also be one extra match against Truckee, since an earlier one was cancelled due to weather.
The lacrosse season is already winding down with 13 of 16 games played. At this point, Swan said first place is out of the question since Galena remains undefeated. The Lady Bighorns currently stand in third place, though, and second place is still within sight.
“The refs and a lot of other coaches have said we could definitely go to state,” Swan said.
