The Staples girls’ lacrosse team lost to Darien 16-8 in the annual rivalry game at Darien High School Friday, April 30.

Staples began slowly, trailing the Blue Wave 4-0. The offense initially played hesitantly against the Darien defense, which caused Staples to be scoreless. While Shira Parower ’21 scored the first goal for the Wreckers halfway through the first quarter, Staples was never able to recover from the early deficit. 

Leading up to the end of the second quarter, the score of the game was 10-3, so Darien maintained a major lead. Staples wasn’t able to counter Darien’s consistently strong game.

Offensive player Sydelle Bernstein ’22 shared the attack strategies against Darien’s defense.

“I think that our attack put all of their effort into the game and each possession but the other teams’ defensive unit was very strong that our attack wasn’t used to,” Bernstein said. “Everyone was playing a bit startled and didn’t have as much confidence as we should have going into the game.”

Along with this attack strategy, the Staples’ defense tried to keep the ball out of the circle and played man-on-man defense to intimidate the Blue Wave into dropping the ball. Senior defender Meghan Nealon ’21 gave her thoughts on how the defense played. 

“I feel like the defense played well. It’s definitely hard to go against such a powerhouse of attack like Darien,” Nealon said. “I think we could have worked a bit more cohesively and as more of a unit.”

While the final score was 16-8, there were positive signs on offense for the Wreckers.

On the Wreckers, four players, Parower, McKenzie Didio ’22, Lexie Moskovit ’21 and Charlotte Barnes ’21 scored all the goals.

Entering the game, Darien had a near-perfect record, with only one loss to New Canaan. Staples, on the other hand, has struggled throughout the season with a few losses.