The Staples girls’ lacrosse team lost to Darien 16-8 in the annual rivalry game at Darien High School Friday, April 30.
Staples began slowly, trailing the Blue Wave 4-0. The offense initially played hesitantly against the Darien defense, which caused Staples to be scoreless. While Shira Parower ’21 scored the first goal for the Wreckers halfway through the first quarter, Staples was never able to recover from the early deficit.
Leading up to the end of the second quarter, the score of the game was 10-3, so Darien maintained a major lead. Staples wasn’t able to counter Darien’s consistently strong game.
Many Staples athletes have dedicated long days and countless hours to the sport they love. For some, it is in hopes of commiting to play at the collegiate level.
Whether it’s division I, II or III, all athletes have to go through a lengthy process to finally commit to play in college. The committing process has dramatically changed during COVID-19, as many regulations have been implemented. This has impacted many of our own athletes at Staples High School.
Gaby Gonzalez ’22 committed on Aug.11 to play soccer at Cornell University.
“COVID has impacted the recruiting process because […] coaches were unable to see me play in person,” Gonzalez said.
In a normal winter, Mckenzie Didio ’22 would be spending her days after school at basketball practice. From December until the end of February, her focus would be solely on basketball. However, this year, Didio has had to learn to balance both playing basketball and lacrosse.
In December, Governor Ned Lamont postponed the start of the winter season until Jan. 19. This delay, which also moved back the end of the winter season, has caused many athletes who participate in winter and spring sports to have to balance getting ready for their spring season while finishing their winter season.
“We have [basketball] practice Monday through Friday plus games,” Didio said, “so I kind of save the weekends for lacrosse and make sure I’m getting to the field or running or doing whatever I can to stay in shape to be ready for lacrosse season.”