Culver City's 2024 Girls Lacrosse team PHOTO BY GEORGE LAASE PIC GOES WITH THE GIRLS LACROSSE STORY Front Row (l-r) #20 Carmen Piro, #4 Cami Keough, #14 Mia Moroz, #9 Flora Woo (C), #21 Zion Jones, # 29 Lucine Linnemayr, #12 Kira Connors, #10 Tiffany Hotton, #1 Khalen Loredo, #6 Raelie Loredo, #19 Kaitlin Fernandez. Back Row -- (l-r) Head Coach Catie Shin, #16 Nina Faeh, #17 Emma Smith, #3 Mei Edgington, #26 Merritt McManus (C), #7 Addie Shiflett, #5 Tatiana Murphy-Wheeler, #2 Antonia Tietje, #11 Katelynn Naylor (C), #13 Lila Bragard, Asst Coach Jamie Chang.
Culver City high school girls lacrosse player co-captain Katelynn Naylor, right, gets ready to score.
The Lady Centaurs lacrosse team started the season losing four out of their first five games but at press time (last Tuesday), they were riding a five-game winning streak, out scoring their Ocean league opponents 94-29 during those five games. Their overall record is 9-6 and they are 5-0 in the Bay league which puts them at the top of the league standings. All the hard work has paid off according to head coach Catie Shin.
"The players are seeing that when you put in the hard work good things can happen," said Shin last week. "As a team collectively, they have improved so much and having that confidence helps us improve so much. The captains have stayed positive and that really helps the younger players."
According to Shin the younger players have pumped new blood into the program that already had several very good sophomores, juniors and seniors. "We have a great class of freshmen that really work hard," said Shin who is also a former Centaur player. "We have a couple of freshmen that have been starting most of our games."
Shin continued to say. "The freshmen did not come in as the most skilled players and they did not have the experience, but they came in with things that are hard to teach. Things like being very coachable. That makes a world of difference. I can teach the skills, but they have worked hard to become great athletes. That is what has made this team a lot different than last year."
One freshman that has really made a difference is goalie Lucine Linneayr. "We all work well together, and our defense has been really incredible and our communication has been excellent" said Linneayr. "We also have the best coaching staff, and they really support us."
In high school sports good coaches bring an element of joy and excitement to their programs but at the same time they know when to get serious. "We are having fun, and we are communicating a lot," said junior co-captain and mid fielder Katelynn Naylor. "We keep encouraging each other and we are bonding together, and we really help each other in different ways."
The Lady Centaurs played their last league game last Wednesday, April 24, and now they must continue to keep the intensity at a high level because they start the CIF playoffs next week. "We need to keep working hard and fine-tune our game," said Shin "We need to continue to work on our fundamentals and clean up a few things. In the playoffs we will really need to play our best games."
This is Shin's third year coaching the Culver City High School girls' lacrosse team and her second year as the head coach. This year the Centaurs have some very good players, an outstanding coaching staff, great facilities and the only thing missing is a CIF championship trophy.
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