The Oviedo Girls Lacrosse team spent the 2020s as a consistently tough and talented team that defeated most squads they came across. With 17-5 and 15-8 records in 2022 and 2023, last year’s 12-10 record – just one loss away from an even record – should be seen as a down year. Despite the past season’s lack of success, this year’s young lineup looks to claim a district title en route to reclaiming their dominant status.

While the squad is predicting a better year than last, it doesn’t mean they are stacked with vetrended upperclassmen. The team’s 2 seniors were surprisingly thrown into leadership positions, but they have strategies to handle the pressure and guide their team to success.

“I’m trying to be more active with my teammates and give them positive feedback to step up as a leader,” Senior Ella Reese Said. “I make sure that I’m available for them and they can ask me any questions”.

This season’s biggest change was the moving of districts, but the squad still has their sights set on their clear goals for the 2025 season despite the shake-up in competition.

“I want to score 20 goals this year and the team is focused on winning the new district,” Senior Olivia Berry said.

With high expectations comes high pressure and Oviedo’s players are doing as much as they can to prepare themselves to meet their lofty projections.

“I’ll listen to some hype music and try to erase any negative thoughts before I step on the field,” Reese said.

Some members of the squad come from other sports and while it can definitely be positive to have players with backgrounds in athletics, certain challenges can haunt these ever-busy student-athletes.

“Being in weightlifting gets me stronger which helps with defending but getting my homework done and the timing after school can be tough,” Junior Sophia Miller said.

The team’s talented roster is one of the best in the state at their best, but Oviedo’s lingering issue of constant injuries could stop the team from getting the record, or playoff run they could easily reach with a healthy lineup.

“We have a lot of injuries this year and we don’t have a lot of subs so we’re trying to rotate as many people in and out of the lineup as possible,” Reese said.

Their first match came 2 hours away at the reigning Region champion Vero Beach. This match ended as an 8-17  loss and a sour start to the season, but Oviedo isn’t sulking on their early blunder.

“It was a tough loss but the motivation has been helpful at practice. We are focusing on fixing our offensive and defensive mistakes,” Berry said.

The team shifted their focus to their next matchup against Lyman, a team that consistently holds losing records, but gets a few good wins every year.

“We’re keeping our conditioning up and we’re making sure we can all communicate and work together to beat one of our rivals,” Miller said.

The team walked away with a 17-1 win over the Greyhounds, an expected result they may need as momentum heading into their next matchup with Lake Mary. The Rams have been a constant threat to the Lions and even the team that knocked them out of the 2023 playoffs with a 19-2 killing of the Lions. Overall the Lion’s outlook on the season is bright and if they can overcome their lack of seniors and injuries they are set up for success.