POULSBO — The Kitsap lacrosse team won a convincing 13-5 semi-final game against Snohomish Thursday at Strawberry Field, with the team poised, confident and playing with a calm aura about them.
That was a drastic to change to the team’s match one week prior with Curtis, a game that ended in Kitsap’s only non-win of the year — a 12-12 tie — in a game tainted by unruly fans and general melee on the field.
The difference between the two games? Yoga.
“We feel collected and calm after yoga,” said Kitsap’s Anna Tanodra. “As a team, we just need to relax and gather ourselves before each game.”
Tanodra, experienced in the calming ways of yoga, had the idea to use it before games. Many of Kitsap’s players felt it paid off on the field.
“We had to make sure we stay focused, so it really helped doing yoga,” said Kitsap’s Nicole Cleaver.
“It’s relaxing and soothing,” said Kitsap’s Megan Lockert, who scored two goals in the game. “So we’re calm and not so wound up before each game.”
Also before the game, coach Val Torrens was asked who the team was playing in their semi-final match. No one seemed to know. But that was not an issue, Torrens commented.
“We had talked about who we were going to play,” Torrens said. “But I told the girls it’s irrelevant — we’re going to win no matter who it is.”
That’s just what they did against the “B” team from Snohomish, jumping out with a 3-0 lead with barely two minutes expired into the game. Bria Phillips, Krista Burleson and Amanda Divyak continued their goal-scoring ways adding the first three tallies.
When Snohomish appeared to have a chance to score, a multitude of Kitsap’s defenders generally stymied any attempts. Be it Tanodra’s steals, Amie Wistrand’s pressure on the ball carrier or goalie Liz Gozney’s typically impenetrable defenses in net, Kitsap wasn’t going to allow many to get through. And possessions were not often started by the Snohomish team, with Cleaver winning the vast majority of starts.
By the second half, Torrens had pulled many of her starters and was using a rotating line-up to give many on the team chances to play. And the rough game at Curtis was by then long forgotten.
“We put (the Curtis game) aside and did what we needed to do to win,” said Kitsap’s Katie Younger. “We just needed to play our own game.”
Saturday will be the last game of the season for Kitsap, regardless of the outcome. But as the team has beaten the Bainbridge Island team it will play today at Seahwaks Stadium twice before, so their chances look good.
You can bet, however, that the team will be preparing any way it can for the game. And that includes lots of Yoga.
“We’ve got to continue the yoga,” said Kitsap’s Sara Hall. “It’s helping to unite us as a team.”
Kitsap goals — Bria Phillips 4, Krista Burleson 4, Amanda Divyak 3, Megan Lockert 2.
