The Memorial girls lacrosse team remains undefeated after beating Westchester, 14-2, Thursday evening.

Mustangs coach Scott Elmore credits the win to his team playing really well and “just more experience.”

“In a game like this one, it’s a good chance for us to see players in new positions,” Elmore said.

Memorial, who began their season early last month, has been playing very well according to Elmore. The chemistry is possibly due to a trip the team took last month to Santa Barbara, Calif.

“The girls have been playing really great,” Elmore said. “The highlight of the season so far was our trip to Santa Barbara. We went out there after our first tournament for four games. Something about the girls traveling and staying in the hotels just helped them bond instantly. It was a good trip.”

And that experience has stayed with the team.

Leaders are showing but not blatantly. When asked to talk about a few key players, Elmore responded with “Where should I start?”

“The real good this about this group is that there is not one real superstar,” Elmore said. “Anyone can lead on any given night and be the lead scorer.”

Layne Kaplan, the starting goalie, has grown leaps-and-bounds and “glues the whole defense together,” according to Elmore.

“The captains, Hilary Szczepanski, Kathryn Blum, Jordan Luedde, and Kirkland Smith, run the team,” Elmore said. “They do a real good job of keeping everyone together.”

Elmore has been the Memorial coach for 14 years and says the progression during that time is remarkable.

“The first four years I coached, we never won a game,” he said. “After that, we went 5-5 and have gotten better ever since.”

Better indeed. The Mustangs won the state championship in 2002 and since then have been one of the top teams in the state every year.

The current three-time defending state champion is St. Johns; a team that Elmore said is Memorial’s toughest competition.

“Our two biggest competitors are St. John’s and Cy-Fair,” Elmore said. “It’s like they grow them on trees over there.”

There are 13 teams in the Houston area and all are pretty good competition according to Elmore. He said anyone could beat anyone on any given day.

“For example, we had a game last week against Kingwood where we were up 9-4 with 15 minutes left and then all of a sudden it was 9-8.”

But the Lady Mustangs ended up winning that game and remain undefeated. Their next competition is Friday at Clear Creek.

Elmore said that the big game between Memorial and St. John’s is March 28.

Subscribe to this comment's feed