The Bellingham Blackhawks defeated the Norton Lancers 9-5, but Norton's girls lacrosse players fought until the end at their last home regular season game on May 22, 2015.
Norton played an independent schedule, testing the waters to see what they could do against different level teams. Norton's improvement may not have been reflected by the score, but Norton played hard.
Norton played Bellingham earlier in the season suffering a 20-2 loss. Norton improved their passing, cutting, defense, and overall game by the time the second match up against Bellingham came around, making Bellingham have to step it up a little bit more than the first game. Both teams played much harder, with more
agility, and better games in all aspects in the later season match up.
Lancers' Christi Brennan and Taylor Mulvehill helped step up Norton's offensive game. Brennan was winning some important draws, many leading to Norton's goals, scoring one herself. Effort is to success as winning a draw was to scoring a goal in this game. Mulvehill scored two out of five of the goals Norton scored in this game. Bellingham's defense did a good job marking Norton, but both were challenging their defense by making cuts, critical passes for Norton's offense, and tactical plays.
Late in the second half with two minutes to go, Norton started playing hard and pressuring Bellingham's defense. Norton answered with two goals scored by Brennan and Norton's only senior, Emily Weber ending the game with only a three goal difference. Both crowds grew vociferous as Norton's offense made it impossible for Bellingham's defense to become inert. Players on both sides of the field's performances were laudable and it was clear these girls were zealous to play to the best of their abilities.
Should Norton and Bellingham play each other next year, Norton will be determined to win. They've lost both games against them, but improved greatly between match ups. Norton's Taylor Mulvehill says, "I believe that we can beat Bellingham. As a team we really need to work on ground balls and draw controls, once we get those down, we will be more successful in upcoming seasons."
Taylor Mulvehill scores an 8 meter twelve minutes
into the second half. (10:45+)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMtFbTHlSxA
Norton scores two goals in under two minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbJr5XzTQSo
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1.Who did Norton play for their final home game?
2. Was Norton's performance in the first half or second half better?
3. What skills were Norton using to complicate Bellingham's defense?
4. In what ways does Norton need to improve to increase their chance of
beating Bellingham in the future according to Taylor?
5. Do you think Norton can beat Bellingham in the upcoming season? Do you think they will be more successful next season?
In the documentary about track phenomenon, Marion Jones, it explains about what she went through after admitting to using Performance Enhancing Drugs. Initally, an interview is shown where she breaks down to the public explaining that the previous accusations about her were true. She was sentenced to six months in prison. Jones ended up sent to solitary confinement when she defended herself against a jail mate who came at her, but she never was given the chance to explain it was self defense. For fifty days she spent twenty three hours alone in a small room. On her time spent alone, she worked out often. After her fifty days, she was happy to go back to a normal routine before getting out and returning to her husband and children. After returning home she had another baby and became ambitious in basketball. Marion Jones' track career came to a halt and she went through a rough time, but she excelled and found happiness in her family and in basketball. 
Marion Jones was imprisoned unfairly in my opinion. Multiple other athletes have admitted to the use of PED's and none of them ever did jail time. A-Rod, for instance, a player for the New York Yankees, was caught using steroids. He was suspended for a season and he was fined, but he did no jail time. Yes, Marion Jones did lie about it and yes, she did disappoint many, but she should not have received a greater punishment than any others found guilty of the same thing. Many believe this was a race issue and others believe it was just pure jealousy. It is unfair that she had something she loved taken away from her forever and she had everything she earned removed from her. What about the many people who have not been caught for using steroids? What about those who may never get caught? At least she came out and told the truth, it just shows she cared about her reputation, family, and fans enough to not continue lying. She may have had track taken away from her and some awards, but nobody will ever be able t take away what she achieved and how far she came after telling the truth. 
