Lindsi Cook

Looking for an open teammate, junior Jenna Mercer travels down the field in a game against Pattonville. The game went into overtime with a score of 6-6 until Mercer scored the game winning goal. “I was so excited and surprised because I didn’t think It was going to make it, but then I saw it did and hearing everyone cheer was so exciting,” Mercer said.

As another season kicks off, the girl’s lacrosse teams faces the challenge of adjusting to the new rule of self-start.

“I was scared because I knew it would be hard to get used to, it was a big learning curve. When I first started playing lacrosse you had to stop when the whistle blew, now that I’m used to it, it’s weird that I can move now,” junior Jenna Mercer said.

With the new self start rule, teams are set up by skill level with 12 players on the field, and about 18 players per team.

“The players on the field are set up with four players on attack, three players on midfield, four players on defense, then one goalie,” Mercer said.

Lacrosse athletes had 20 practices to learn the self start rule and new positioning to ensure their safety.

“The biggest rule change this year is the self start after a foul. Usually, the referee blows his whistle when a foul occurs, and that indicates that all players on the field must immediately stop where they are, and they cannot move until the referee blows their whistle again,” coach Courtney Brockmeyer said.  

Each player was required to watch a 15-minute video of the rules, in addition to 11 other rule videos that Brockmeyer sent to the team.

“These videos were really helpful because we got the insights we needed for the game, so at practice, I just remembered what the video was saying and I applied it to the game,” sophomore Lauren Barron said.

Brockmeyer believes the new rules will help players who wish to move on to play college level.

“I’m excited for all the players who are looking to play in college because the new rules will prepare them and they will have a better understanding before entering the big game,” Brockmeyer said.

As the players move into the season they will get used to the new rules and have a way better understanding of them.

“At first it will be challenging and frustrating, but as a team, we can figure it out and help each other any way we can,” sophomore Lilly Rahm said.