Nilsen continues to lead lacrosse team
By Skip Pearlman
The wins are not coming, but the Beacon High School girls’ lacrosse team continues to make progress, according to its coach.
The Bulldogs played well at moments in an 18-9 loss to visiting Eastchester Wednesday (April 24) at Rombout Middle School.
Beacon’s Grace Affeldt (20) grabs a loose ball off a draw and heads upfield against Eastchester. (Photo by S. Pearlman)
“Eastchester came out firing,” said Brian Lange, the coach. “They had four goals in the first minute-and-a-half. After that, I thought the girls did well bouncing back. We showed some mental toughness. That’s something we’ve been discussing and working on. We don’t have a junior varsity program, and we play a tough schedule against girls who can really play.”
He added: “The girls are focused on the right things, and I think it’s showing. It would’ve been easy to hang our heads down 4-0 early. That speaks a lot about the personality and character of this team. We’d like to have a couple wins under our belts [Beacon is 0-10], but we’re learning from these games.”
Beacon keeper Skyler Kurtz (34) and sophomore Gianna Thompson (26) look to collect a loose ball before an Eastchester attacker grabs it. (Photo by S. Pearlman)
Junior captain Tessa Nilsen had a big day for the Bulldogs, dropping six goals and adding an assist. Junior captain Grace Affeldt scored twice, and junior Victoria Albra had a goal and an assist. Keeper Skyler Kurtz made seven saves.
“Tessa has been fantastic for us, she has stepped up as a leader on the field,” Lange said. “Lila Young, another captain, is also a great defensive leader, she sees the field well and verbalizes well. And Olivia Lynch has been showing improvement.”
Beacon is scheduled to travel to Pawling on Monday, May 6.
