Lacrosse Co-Op Nets First Team Victory
Female athletes from the Freeport Yellowjackets girls` lacrosse team - which includes seven athletes from Armstrong School District - share a laugh during practice in Freeport last week.
by Jonathan Weaver
More than a half-dozen Armstrong River Hawks are wearing blue and yellow Freeport Yellowjackets jerseys this Spring as members of the cooperative girls` lacrosse team.
Playing within Division II, Section 3 against schools such as Mars, Knoch and Butler, the Yellowjackets – the lacrosse team won their first scrimmage of the season March 21 versus Plum (who also is coincidentally fielding a second-year team).
The final score had Freeport winning 13-5.
Armstrong Junior Hannah Bowman scored her first lacrosse goal after joining this year’s squad.
“I saw posters in the school, and I never ever thought of playing before, but I have a friend that plays for Fox Chapel and she’s really good, so I thought I’d try it out. I came to practice and I fell in love with it,” Bowman said.
Bowman – a midfielder from Ford City– actually scored the first goal of the entire 60-minute game.
Armstrong Junior Chrissy Conklin played on Indiana’s cooperative varsity lacrosse team for four years. She looked forward to competing against some of her former teammates in the last game of the regular season this May.
Conklin, an attacker who is also on the Pittsburgh Intrepid travel team, scored six goals during the scrimmage.
There weren’t any girls from Armstrong School District on last year’s team, but there are seven this year, according to Head Coach Bob Conklin.
Freeport students Taylor Lichty and Cameron Lindsay were two of the 15 students on the lacrosse team last year – a season when the Yellow Jackets didn’t register a victory.
“It’s a good thing to be a part of, I think – to be on a team that’s not very experienced and build up off of it and make it successful,” Lindsay said. “It’s cool to see all the progress we’ve made just after one season.
“It was kind-of frustrating that we lost ever game, but to be able to win our first scrimmage was really cool because it gave us more confidence for the season.”
Lindsay also scored two goals to preserve the victory for Freeport Goalie Cassie Suran.
Coach Conklin – a first-year head coach after assisting with the Indiana team for three years - was also happy with the victory last week.
“It was great – it was good seeing their faces after the first win like that,” Conklin said. “Hopefully many more will follow.”
Athletes, who have been practicing since January, are also members of US Lacrosse.
The team starts section play April 5 on the road versus Butler.
Local Sports | jweaver March 28, 2016
By ktown_kid, March 29, 2016 @ 1:49 PM
Although this is a great thing to introduce this sport and help it grow but it’s my understanding the armstrong kids have to supply their own rides to freeport to catch the bus once they get an early dismissal from the school during away games. Seems like poor planning on the coaches or schools behalf.