Sticks, goggles and mouth guards come out of winter storage as United Girls Lacrosse players gear up for the spring season. The team is co-op with Visitation, with the St. Paul Academy and Summit School part of the team led by junior Bridget Hoffman and senior Sarah Romans.

With a fairly young group of players this year “The team has lots of potential,” Hoffman said.

The team is hoping to improve from last year’s season. With a new head coach, Laura Bernard, players are looking forward to bettering their record this year. With rivals Blake, Washburn and Breck, a spectator can expect to see “a very fast game,” Hoffman said.

Girls Lacrosse is played on a field much like a soccer field and is similar to a combination of soccer and hockey. It is a non-touch sport, where players of different positions must stay in their area of the field to play.

“We have lots of fast runners that can move the ball quickly,” Romans said.

The team’s pre-game rituals keep them bonded: “We like to do each others’ hair, and put on lipstick. It’s really fun,” Hoffman said.

“We like to listen to music and paint our faces,” Romans said.

“We also like to say our goals for the game,” Hoffman added.

According to both captains, SPA and Visitation players mesh really well through different team bonding activities:

“We like to have team sleepovers and dinners,” Romans said.

The team started out with a loss on Apr. 14 but with varsity games on May 8, 12 and 14 everyone can come to watch a fast and exciting upcoming game.