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05/12/2016 12:00 AMCatherine Lawrence already had experience as the goalie for Guilford’s girls soccer squad and, when her lacrosse team needed someone to step in the net this year, Catherine stepped up and took the position.
Catherine, a junior who also plays defense for Indians’ girls’ ice hockey, spent last spring on the offensive end of the lacrosse turf. When the 2016 season rolled around, Guilford had to fill a void in goal and Catherine volunteered to be the team’s new netminder. Catherine adjusted quite nicely to the position by helping her team win its first three games. Then after the Indians went through a brief rough patch, Catherine and company came back to beat Mercy 13-3 last week for their fifth win of the season.
“The previous goalie switched schools, so I decided to give it a shot. The encouragement and support of my teammates has been a big help. They are always telling me that I’m doing well, even when I don’t think I am,” says Catherine. “It’s about staying in the game mentally. It’s as much mental as it is physical because, with confidence and the right mindset, I believe I’m able to do it.”
Although Catherine felt nervous at first when she became the lacrosse team’s keeper, she realized that the frenetic pace of the game was similar to hockey and she’s let the ice water flow through her veins ever since.
“The whole team just kept telling me to take a deep breath and stay calm. Our assistant coach Jess Joline would just keep telling me to shake off any goals that were scored on me,” says Catherine. “Like with hockey, they take close and quick shots at the net in lacrosse—unlike soccer, though, where the net and ball are bigger.”
Head Coach Steve Jewett was impressed with the selflessness Catherine showed by taking on the goalie’s job in the preseason and he’s certainly pleased with how she’s handled the heat during the regular season.
“She has taken on this monstrous role and is playing as well or better than her contemporaries. An overtime win against previously unbeaten Norwalk is testament to her play. She made 10 saves on 18 shots [with two coming in the final minutes] to keep us tied and into OT,” says Jewett. “When Catherine came to me about her desire to play, she said that her team needed her and she was perfect for the position and she had no interest in being recruited for her [lacrosse] play and wanted to do this.”
It took just one series of saves versus Norwalk to sharpen Catherine’s focus on protecting the net in that April 25 contest. She ultimately propelled the Indians to a 9-8 victory that was a huge boost of confidence for both herself and the team.
“I just kept reminding myself to stay calm in this big game. I felt good in warm-ups and, once I got those first couple of saves, I realized I had this,” Catherine says. “It gave me more confidence because we had some high-scoring games previously, so it was great to keep it under 10 goals for the game.”
Catherine feels that being a former offensive standout is an added asset for her in the net. And although her Indians have gotten out to a rockier start than usual, she’s confident that Guilford will once again be contending at the end of the season.
“Going to goalkeeper, I think more like an offensive player, such as what they are going to shoot and from where. For example, I can tell when someone will shoot low. It’s all about reading and reacting,” says Catherine, who thanks her mother Maribeth, her teammates, plus coaches Jewett and Joline. “Our record hasn’t been as good as in the past, but we still have the talent. We’ve had some close games, but we just need to stay strong on both sides of the field and have confidence in ourselves.”