JUNE 9, 2022—Catch after catch, throw after throw, the Pal-Mac Lady Raiders girls lacrosse team made it seem like their practice was just like any other. But this one wasn’t, as it carried a different meaning.
The team was warming up for their final practice before they got on the road to compete in the State tournament.
“It’s awesome, it feels good to be back,” senior Kylie Waeghe said.
Waeghe is one of three captains we spoke to before Friday’s game against Skaneateles, which will be played at the State University of New York at Cortland. We also heard from juniors Molly Seither and Clare Boesel.
The Lady Raiders (16-4) reached the State level by way of winning yet another Section V (Five) Class D title in a 9-8 nailbiter over the Aquinas Institute on June 1. The win was followed up by a 15-2 win over Eden in the Regional round.
“It’s been a really exciting journey, especially with the team being so young there’s just so much room for improvement,” Boesel said.
It’s a young team, indeed. Outside of the Waeghe, the team only has one other senior, Ella Stanton. The rest of the team is made up of mostly juniors and sophomores, but also includes several freshmen and eighth graders.
Molly Seither
Kylie Waeghe
Waeghe echoed Boesel in saying the team has come a long way from day one, but continues to improve.
“I feel like at the beginning of the season we didn’t quite gel very well as a team, I feel like we were playing own separate games,” Waeghe said. “And then now at this point in this season we’re good at playing for each other and playing as a team. We’ve learned how each other plays and we just play off of each other. There have been a lot of difficult games which have made us a lot stronger, and I think that’s what’s made us ready for states.”
Clare Boesel
Seither weighed in much the same.
“I think we all know our strengths and weaknesses and we just build off of each other for that, and connect by that,” Seither said.
Friday’s trip state trip will mark the first time in two years the program will have competed at the state level. There is a bit of a catch to that stat, though, as COVID prevented states from happening the last two years.
The Pal-Mac program has either been at the doorstep of states or could have competed in the tournament for at least the last five years. Head Coach EJ Burse has been at the helm of each of those teams.
Waeghe was a member of the 2019 team, which fell to Mattituck 9-5 in the NYS Semifinal.
Past success aside, the captains all said the team spent the last week re-tooling and refocusing as they prepare to take on tough competition. Waeghe added the closeness of the title game was a learning experience for the team as they’ve worked to play “Pal-Mac lacrosse.”
Coach Burse describes playing “Pal-Mac lacrosse” as playing their own game, and every game is not guaranteed. The team is reminded that just because they have “Pal-Mac” on their jerseys, does not mean they will handed a game automatically.
“We know what we need to do, we just have to get it done,” Waeghe said. “A lot of it now is just getting in the headspace of this is going to be a difficult game, we’re going to have to work really hard , but we really do have a shot here.”
Pal-Mac will faceoff starting at 3 p.m. Friday. The winner will advance to the championship game, which will be played on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Ticket and livestream information can be found here.