FINAL

     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?