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When first-year Carroll girls lacrosse coach Rainey Hodgson took over the program a few months ago, it didn’t take long to discover her team’s mindset heading into the 2022 season. Reconvening as a team after falling short in the 2021 state championship game, the Lady Dragons’ hunger was evident.
“The first thing they said when I took the job and we were at our first practice was, ‘We're ready to go to state,’” says Hodgson. “Since Day One, they've been talking about getting back there.”
With a senior-stacked roster, experience gives the Lady Dragons a chance to achieve their lofty goals.
Senior attacker Katelyn Sclafani, committed to play Division I lacrosse at East Carolina next season, is the veteran leader of the Lady Dragons’ offense with 13 goals and seven assists. Midfielder Logan Risenhoover (committed to Vanderbilt) has 16 goals and 16 draw controls in the regular season. Fellow senior midfielder Kaileigh Wallace (Mercer commit) leads the team with 29 goals, 33 draw controls and seven caused turnovers.
Those three, along with senior defender Bella Van Hoosier, are all captains on this year’s team. Van Hoosier, along with senior goalkeeper Angeli Patel, has anchored a solid defense.
“Their drive never stops,” Hodgson says of her players. “I'm very confident that going into the postseason, we'll be ready to overcome any obstacles and adversity thrown our way.”
SEASON UPDATE
Sometimes early schedule losses have a positive impact on a team. Carroll girls lacrosse coach Rainey Hodgson points to such a loss in helping improve her team’s mindset, which in turn has benefited the Lady Dragons' play for most of the season going forward.
A one-point loss to McKinney (ranked No. 3 in the state) in the third game this spring was Carroll’s first defeat of the season and helped put things in perspective for them, Hodgson says.
“That was a big wake-up call,” she says. “But it happened at the perfect time. We're going into the season, kids are thinking they want to go back to state, maybe getting a little ahead of ourselves. We've got to focus on the here and now.”
The Lady Dragons (5-2 with three games remaining and ranked No. 2 in the state) only dropped one of their next four, falling to No. 1-ranked Hockaday on March 29. They defeated other quality programs this season such as Flower Mound (No. 4 in the state), Allen (No. 20), Greenhill (No. 11), Episcopal School of Dallas (No. 8) and Frisco (No. 6).
How they’ve won is also impressive, Hodgson says. Trailing or leading by small amounts in the first half, Carroll has pulled away in the second half. The Lady Dragons led Frisco 8-7 at the half before notching a 19-9 victory.
“They have been extremely impressive with how they've been able to bounce back, and their in-game adjustments are very good,” Hodgson says.