Griffins’ season ends, team falls to Benilde St. Margaret’s

The Woodbury/East Ridge cooperative girls lacrosse team concluded its season Wednesday, May 25, with an 11-10 loss to Benilde St. Margaret’s in the first round of section 5 playoffs at Royal Stadium.

Benilde (7-8-1; 5-1) got off to a quick start, but the Griffins climbed back into the game with a goal from freshman Jessica Hammer with .7 seconds left in the first half, making the score 8-6 Benilde at halftime.

The second half started much like the first, as Benilde took an 11-8 lead only to see Woodbury/East Ridge sophomore Blair Fanning score to make the score 11-9 with 2:35 left in the game. Freshman Ella Frazer then scored for the Griffins, making the score 11-10 with 48.5 left in the game. Following a frenzy of action, Benilde was able to hold on and win the game 11-10.

Woodbury/East Ridge coach Kara Midura said she was proud of her team’s resiliency.

“We fought pretty hard for it, we wanted to win,” said Midura. “We played hard and the score shows that.”

One reason the Griffins (6-8) stayed close the whole game was the play of eighth grade goalie Cara Kaufer.

“(Kara) is really quick,” said Midura. “She stops the ball well for being a bit shorter. We are real happy with her.”

Team chemistry is immediately apparent when watching the Griffins, as the girls are always laughing with one another and congratulating each other on good plays, something Midura said the team worked on.

“Right in the beginning of the season we had a team-bonding deal where we worked together to do challenges,” said Midura. “I try and bring as much into it as I can – just try and have a good time.”

Following a 1-12 season, the Griffins showed great improvement in the 2010/11 season, improving to 5-7 overall and 1-6 in the SEC. Coach Midura said she was proud of the way her team progressed.

“It was an awesome season,” said Midura. “We did a lot better than last year which means we grew a lot in the offseason. I had a lot of smart girls that caught on well to things they were taught. We also had some under-classman come up through the Woodbury Parks and Recs Department that played well. Overall it was a really neat season.”

Senior Sofia Bainbridge and Frazer led the Griffins with two goals each.

The team must now say good-bye to six seniors — Bainbridge, Frazer, Jackie Hegg, Katie Schulte, Elizabeth Straub, Ashley Hohenstein and Erin Driscoll.

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