Start the buses.

Girls lacrosse will hit the road next week in search of two big victories against Fenwick and Maine South.

Last year the Kits defeated Fenwick 14-9. According to coach Sarah McKenna they didn’t graduate many players and she expects it to be a competitive game. The Friars come into the game with a 5-4 record and ranked 18 in the state according to laxpower.com, two spots lower than ETHS.

Following that game, the Kits will head to Maine South. The Hawks have started the season with a 1-4 record, however they’re ranked three spots higher than ETHS due to their tough strength of schedule. Last year ETHS suffered an 11-2 defeat to Maine South.

“Our Maine South loss last year was only our third game of the season. They graduated a lot of players from their team and have a new head coach. This will be a tough conference game for us, but it is a very winnable game,” McKenna said.

The Kits have begun the season with a 4-3 record, including an impressive conference victory at Deerfield in which they trailed 7-5 at half. Following that game, they were stunned in a 12-11 double overtime loss at number four in the state, Stevenson Patriots.

“ The double overtime loss to Stevenson was tough. While the outcome was not what we wanted in that game, we saw a lot of fight and everyone playing together for the team,” McKenna said.

Through the first seven games the junior class is carrying the load. Juniors Marnie O’Malley and Zoe Lydon lead the team with 12 and eight goals, respectively. While junior Carolyn Woodward is tending the net with a 55.81 save percentage.

According to McKenna the senior captains; Morgan Maslauski, Emily Agnew, Natalie Struve, and Grace Giangreco are doing a great job of leading the team.

One of the team goals for the year was to maintain focus in practice and keep the intensity up. Despite the weather not fully cooperating, practices have been competitive and the results are showing come game time.

“You can tell in practice and during games that every member of our team loves lacrosse and wants to improve, which I think motivates everyone to work as hard as they possibly can,” Maslauski said.

Last year, there was a lot of team drama that distanced them and it showed up on the field. This year, it’s quite the opposite and it’ll be the key factor in them getting back to the sweet sixteen for consecutive years.

“I think that this has been the fastest that the team has had such great chemistry and works really well together,” coach Sarah McKenna said. “We do not have any superstars, we have a solid team that works together in every game and we have had some great team wins.”

“When a team can play together and trust each other to catch a pass or win a ground ball, it’s much harder to beat,” Giangreco said. “Luckily, this year we’ve really come together and you can see the trust and teamwork come through on the field.”