THE 2008 LACROSSE LADY BUCCANEERS — First row, from left: Jessie Rowan, Beth Russell, Stephanie Barlow, Laura Mason, Caitlyn Greene and Emily Brumley. Second row: Soran Kennedy, Bethanie Cogar, Krista Knabenshue, Brittany Hardy, Jillian Nolte, Jackie Crites and Maggie Rhodes. Third row: Head coach Beth Lampinen, assistant coach Evey Hepinger, Brittany Snider, Shannon McAtee, Layla Newbrough, Karissa Knabenshue, Amy Dilworth, Noel Carmona, Jessica Hardman and assistant coach Katelyn Shaw. Not pictured: Alexis Sabo. Submitted photo

TENNERTON — Not many scholastic sports teams can say that they made it to the state tournament in their program’s first year of existence, but the Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Buccaneer lacrosse team did just that.

But more important to the Lady Bucs was the opportunity to learn a new game, develop new skills and gain new insight into offensive and defensive strategies, all while playing against experienced lacrosse squads.

“I think our girls understood that they were playing against teams that had been doing this for a long time,” B-U head coach Beth Lampinen said. “They understood that this is a learning experience, but I expect there to be a couple more new teams next year.”

The Lady Bucs defeated Wheeling Park’s Lady Patriots 12-8 on April 19, which vaulted them into the top four of the West Virginia Scholastic Lacrosse Association and secured them a playoff spot. Of course, the WVSLA featured only five girls’ teams during the 2008 season, but for both the Lady Bucs and the league, it was a growing experience.

“I think beating Wheeling Park was the highlight of the season, maybe even more so than making it to the playoffs,” Lampinen said. “They knew that the Wheeling Park game was our game to win and they went out and did that.”

Aside from Wheeling Park, whose girls’ lacrosse program was also in its first year, the Lady Bucs faced off against a trio of veteran lacrosse teams — Fairmont Senior, Morgantown and University. While the Lady Bucs came up winless against those schools, Lampinen believes playing them made her team stronger.

“I think it gave our girls a good idea of how the game is played and let them know how much work they had to do. Even some of the players on opposing teams were giving our girls some pointers and helping them out.”

“We spent most of our time practicing and developing our skills. We only had six regular season games and I thought that was enough, because most of our girls had never even held a stick before.”

By the end of the season, the Lady Bucs were seeing their practice pay off. After defeating Wheeling Park, the Lady Bucs took Morgantown to overtime in their final regular season game, before falling 11-9 in the extra period.

And though they may have lost in the opening round of the playoffs, Lampinen believes they may have saved their best performance for last. “We played Fairmont Senior three times this season, and our best game against them was the one we played in the playoffs,” the Lady Bucs’ coach stated.

Alexis Sabo and Brittany Snider both scored a pair of goals in the Lady Bucs’ 15-7 loss to the Lady Polar Bears, while Jessica Hardman, Laura Mason and Shannon McAtee all scored one goal apiece. B-U freshman goalie Bethany Russell stopped 23 Fairmont Senior shots in defeat.

Just as the players on her team enjoyed gaining experience throughout the season, Lampinen also found herself getting acclimated to her role as head coach, while receiving a helping hand from her assistant coaches, Wesleyan students Evey Hepinger and Katelyn Shaw.

“I played a little bit of lacrosse in college, but I had never coached anything before,” Lampinen said. “I wanted to get some interest going in the game and let the girls see what it’s all about, and I wanted to get some interest going in town.”

“I’m a mother of two boys, so it was my first experience working with girls. I work with a lot of high school students through my job at Wesleyan, but I mostly deal with seniors, so this was a different age group for me. We tried to make it fun, coaching for the first time.”

Apparently that strategy worked. The Lady Bucs will only lose two seniors to graduation from this year’s roster, while returning a core group which includes 11 freshmen. Lampinen expects the majority of those players to return to the squad next season and she looks forward to seeing her Lady Bucs continue the improvement they made this year.

“I think we improved the most in our throwing and catching, and also in understanding strategies and plays to set up and score,” Lampinen remarked. “We got a grasp of things, but we still have work to do.”