With a new coach, new strategies and intensive practice, the lacrosse team is hoping their new strategies will take them all the way to the Central Coast Section (CCS) championship.

Pete Carolan, the new coach, has outlined a few specific goals for the team. “The two major goals are to make the league final four, allowing us to compete for the league championship,” he said, “and the second is to have a winning record and a winning attitude.” Gunn made it to leagues last year after a 7-7-1 record, so senior center co-captain Paige Lin said that she thinks that making it to the playoffs again this year is also a reachable goal. Carolan also had three more minor goals for the team, including winning their first league game against Leland on March 14, beating Menlo-Atherton, who won the league last year, on May 2, and beating rival Paly, who they will play on March 20.

The team lost the opening game against Leland 8-10, but Lin is not discouraged. “It’s a step in the right direction,” she said. “But there is room for improvement.”

Carolan has introduced new strategies and conditioning methods in order to achieve these goals. “I’ve been taught that lacrosse comes first and conditioning comes with time and effort,” he said. “This is also why a team should be as deep as possible. If you pull a girl off and another girl comes in, the team should continue to play just as well in terms of lacrosse fundamentals—every girl will be prepared to do so. Being able to run a marathon doesn’t score goals.” Carolan has brought in sprints and plyometrics and decreased the amount of long- distance running.

However, Lin thinks less focus on long-distance running may not be best. “A lacrosse field is the same size as a football field,” she said. “You need to be able to run; otherwise people get tired on the field.”

The new playbook will also be important to the team this season. “How well they learn and trust the plays will determine how well they do,” Carolan said. Senior attack wing Camille Chesavage thinks the plays are one of the team’s strongest advantages. “The plays are easy to learn and will help us dominate,” she said. “They’re different from what the other teams have.” The new playing style is more similar to boys’ lacrosse than in the past, according to Lin, which she attributes to having a male coach for the first time. “It’s a more open offense, with more focus on fundamentals,” she said.

The team hopes that its strong chemistry will help it this season. “They’re not a bunch of strangers,” Carolan said. “They all know each other really well.”

Chesavage agreed that their bond is the best asset the team has. “We have great teamwork,” she said.

Chesavage is afraid that communication issues will counteract their teamwork. “Sometimes there are multiple people trying to do different things and we don’t coordinate well,” she said.

Lin agrees that the team’s communication could use work. “We have a really strong defensive unit because a lot of it is returning,” she said. “But we do need to work on communication.”