At the end of this Autumn’s preparation season, the ladies applying for the Austrian Lacrosse National Team, visited the Czech Republic for some friendly games. Amongst the team were also eight Lady Monarchs.
The icy temperatures seemed to have frozen the players in place at the beginning of the first game against LCC Radotin and the creative and fast Czech players dominated from the start. The Austrian team was not able to control the fast pace of the attack and the usually very strong defense couldn’t reassemble in time.
The first half was also characterized by self-conscious ball handling and an overall nervous play of the Austrian Try-out team, which had to play with only two substitutes due to injuries. After the break the team could return strong and kept on fighting for every goal in a very intensive game. They were able to show some of their offensive skills and scored goals with well-planned plays which left the Austrian with a more positive feeling, considering the final result of 3:14, leaving them in hope for a third half.
Following a lunch break to warm up players, fans and accompanying injured players, the Austrian team got the next chance to show their skills already.
The second game on this cold and wintery Saturday lead them against SK Lacrosse Jižní Město. This game was a mirrored image of the first appearance of the Development Team in the Czech Republic, dominating the other team from the start. It was also a great opportunity to practice skills developed during the camps with coach Mike Perez the two weekends ahead of the friendly games. Therefor the team gave the final touch to skills on both ends of the field, which was the main reason to play against the strong Czech teams in the first place. The final result of the game against SK Lacrosse Jižní Město was 4:14 in favor of the Austrian National Team.
To load up on their energy reserves again the team enjoyed a team dinner in a traditional Czech restaurant and some players even ventured into the beautiful old town of Prague, to take advantage of the late starting time of the game on Sunday.
Sunday morning started off very relaxed and the team enjoyed the beautiful weather prepared together for the last game of this season. Facing the second team of the Radotin Lacrosse club, the Harpies, who were supported by experienced and skilled players of the Czech National Team, the Austrian try-out team had a head start with a very creative and well-coordinated play. However, the game got more exciting in the second half, when the Austrian players lost concentration and the hosts scored one goal after the other. Luckily the Austrian development team pulled themselves together and secured a win with only one goal difference in the end.
Thus, the team was celebrating a win with 8:7 against the Radotin Harpies to close this year’s try-outs for the spots of the Austrian National Team during the World Championship in 2017.
