After Hockaday stumbled on their trip out west, dropping two of their three contests, the Trojans leapfrogged the Daisies in USA Lacrosse’s rankings and now sit at 4th in the South and #1 in Texas. This is the highest-ranking Anderson has ever received and deservedly so after a 4-0 start.
The Trojans aren’t just winning games though, they’re dominating in the fashion fans have grown accustomed to over the past few years. They opened the season with a 21-2 win over St. Andrews, won handily against McKinney and Southlake on their Dallas road trip, and pummelled Lake Travis 20-2 to cap off a great start to the year.
Anderson also features the most balanced scoring attack we’ve seen yet with 4 seniors scoring 14 or more goals so far this year. High Point commit Harper Jones leads the team with 16 scores, Oregon commit Audrey Thompson and Cincinnati commit Chloe Page each have 15, and Flagler commit Maddie Van Den Bossche has 14 thus far.
Junior captain Laney Owens leads the Trojans with 7 assists this season and is tasked with facilitating the attack in most games. She told me that “the key to the success that we have been seeing is making sure that we are all on the same page when the ball is on our offensive side of the field”. The team’s ability to work together and play “as one unit” has led to a high-octane offense scoring almost 19 goals a game.
Defensively, Audrey Thompson leads the Trojans with 9 ground balls on the year, while sophomore Emerson Isles has 7. Junior midfielder Olivia Andrus is also a key two-way player for Anderson helping Thompson lead a midfielder group that lost Annie Small to Dartmouth after last year. The Charlotte commit returned from injury just before the season and hasn’t missed a beat with 4 goals and 7 points over her first 4 contests. When asked about the season, Andrus said that it’s “been going really well so far” and that “the defense has been super solid and continues to shut down opponents”.
The Trojans are back in action this week with 3 games over 7 days beginning Wednesday with a home contest against Dripping Springs. The Tigers are 3-4 on the season and fell 13-7 to St. Andrews in their final game before the break. Anderson should be favored but will still need to play a solid game to come out with a victory.
As always, keep it here at Go Trojans Go for the latest news and updates surrounding Anderson Girls Lacrosse.
