The Owatonna Girls Lacrosse Team is off to a great start to their season. The team is 4-0 and is ready to see what the rest of the season has in store for them. This year, lacrosse was officially added to the wide variety of Big 9 sports. This means that it will be the first year for a Big 9 champion team and a first for the players to have a shot at being all conference athletes. Junior Captain, Ashley Beckman said, “Having a Big 9 conference this year is so exciting. It gives our team an extra boost to work hard and strive to be conference champs.”

On Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, the JV and varsity team traveled to Duluth to make history. On April 15, the JV and varsity girls lacrosse games held at Duluth East High School were the northernmost high school girls lacrosse games played in the USA. The varsity team went 2-0 that weekend, their first win of 20-1 was against Hermantown, and next win of 14-1 vs. Duluth East. Head Coach, Bill Bernard said, “Our trip to Duluth was a lot of fun, and we found success on the field to get our season underway. Our returning varsity players did a good job in helping our new varsity players get comfortable in our system. We have a group of hard-working players who love the game and love to compete. This trip is the start of what should be a very successful season for girls lacrosse.”

After the trip to Duluth, the team again traveled to Northfield on Thursday, April 21. The team had their first Big Nine conference win with a score of 7-2. Senior Captain, Gabi Zeman said, “We worked really well as a team even though we had some frustrations. It was a good first Big 9 game.” Finally, on Saturday, April 23, the girls had their home opener against Mankato. The team had a slow first half with a score of 4-2 at halftime. However, the attack stormed the field during the second half and the defense shut down Mankato’s offense, ending the game with a victory of 16-2. After the game, Bernard told the team, “The second half of that game was some of the best lacrosse that our girls lacrosse team has played in years!”

The Owatonna Girls Lacrosse Team will be home again vs. Rochester Century, Thursday, April 28 at 7 p.m.