Two Lady Owls stand out with stats, but remain equals within the women’s lacrosse team
Two women’s lacrosse players have been leading the team in goals this season. Together, the two have made 36 goals out of the 86 total and more than half of the teams 40 assists. Although the two stand out on the stats board, Eliza Witherbee and Kaitlin Nolan are truly team players.
“I think the other players look to them to start the game off. The two of them are able to find the right lanes to the net and are confident to push through it, where the other players have the ability too, but they just don’t have that confidence yet,” Women’s Head Lacrosse Coach Katie Arsenault said.
Even if the team looks for them to start the scoring, they don’t rely on them to be the only ones to score throughout the whole game. In fact, these two enjoy making opportunities for others just as much as they enjoy making a goal for themselves.
“If someone’s open, they’re open. I trust everyone on offense and that’s huge. I have great trust when feeding the ball to someone and have confidence in them that they will finish the play,” Nolan said.
Brian Cantore / Photo Editor: Kaitlin Nolan brings the ball up in a game against LEC rival Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday, April 5, at the Owl Athletic Complex.
This season Nolan has scored 16 goals, but she really enjoys setting up the ten assists that she has. “I love assists. I love starting a play just as much as I love finishing the play,” Nolan said.
Witherbee, the team’s leader in points with 20 goals, also said she likes sharing the spotlight with her fellow teammates. “We know we aren’t a two or one person team. Sometimes we know what the other person is doing but we definitely work cohesively as a team,” Witherbee said.
Although these players are leaders on the board, they are also some of the unspoken leaders of the team on the field, according to other teammates.
“They both have good attitudes on the field. Nolan is silent but tough and the younger girls look to that, and Witherbee is quiet but sets an example just by her playing,” Arensault said.
The two attacks also said they encourage other teammates to help out, so it is not just a two-woman show on the field. “I like being a leader, I like setting an example. You know, don’t talk too much, just do and people might follow or do the same,” Nolan said.
With other members of the team now racking up points close to Nolan and Witherbee, the team is trying something new in future games to wash away any pressure on the players with high stats.
Portrait by Brian Cantore / Photo Editor:
Kaitlin Nolan, left, and Eliza Witherbee, right are leading the Lady Owls on the board and on the field.
The team expressed they want to go into each game with a clean slate and pretend there are no stats for themselves, for the team as a whole, and even the team they are playing against.
This idea was expressed by Arsenault “We’re trying to get away from the numbers so we can just play the game. I don’t want them focusing on stats because when players get the ball they feel like they need to produce. And with high attacks like Nolan and Witherbee, if they don’t get the ball they feel like they didn’t do anything and it just creates unneeded pressure on them.”
Arsenault said she hopes this will allow other players to feel better about playing and really show their talents.
Kendall Pope can be contacted at kpope@keene-equinox.com
