 Welcome back to the Kathy Rayleigh show presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm Sam Murray joined now with Stevenson women's lacrosse head coach Kathy Rayleigh and coach You earned the top seed in the upcoming Mack Commonwealth playoffs won a perfect 8-0 the second time you've done that since joining the conference For starters, let's talk about that last game where you you've secured that top seed against Messiah Okay, who's kind of gotten the best of you over the years It may not be the same messiah team this year, but you held them scoreless for the last 40 minutes of play talk about that game You know, I think it has a lot to do with team chemistry right now We we make a lot of mistakes, but we make great mistakes and we're always ready to back each other up on those mistakes So when I look at holding a great team like Messiah to zero goals and a half And and and the all over win with that game what I'm seeing in there Is you know, maybe maybe one of our players missed a slide But the other player was there to cover for her makes it very hard on a potent attack and messiah has a potent attack Um to to find the gaps because we cover for our mistakes so so very quickly Um, I really think that the combination we have out there defensively right now They play hard for each other. They Um They scout really really well. They're extremely intelligent and I think whatever I'm asking them to do They're executing and not only the executing but they're executing at a high level That was a really exciting half for us for for a lot of reasons, you know, we're shooting the ball a ton Um, and as we get better with our shooting percentage, I think it's going to be even more and more difficult to stop us So I'm I'm really excited to see where the season leads us You had a lot of standouts this year on the field five of them earned all conference Freshman Caroline Murphy's rookie of the year and then she was also on the second team and then carly bose Uh, gaby de jello, sarah already mac burgers and all first team selections. Just talk about that. Oh goodness You know, what a what a positive reflection of our team To be have so many on on that list Uh, you know starting with caroline just to watch her progression as the season has gone gone on And her confidence Has been truly truly exciting and you know, a lot of those attackers are so very big Such a big deal in in and how we Redefend and how we get our defense a chance to get a break and You know, they all work so so very well together You know caroline's a double threat She can shoot and she can feed and she occupies oftentimes one of the other team's best defenders and still is putting in Numerous goals. So i'm very proud of that combination of uh, you max sarah and gaby You know, it's just it's it's a wow factor They get along great. They're super supportive of each of each other And I think that they They just have so much fun on defense and and you can see the excitement and you can see That they try different things you can also see that they get better and better as the game goes on Nothing makes a coach happier that as that game goes on They they rectify whatever mistakes they were making early on their energy level increases their communication increases And it's just been so fun to watch that defensive that defensive trio move forward You know Carly bows, I I just think carly is one of the best players in the country and and I and I really hope that she gets recognized for that down the road She's she's not only a great attacker, uh, but carly is an exceptional part of that defense as well You know, I I give carly Usually the toughest mark out on the field. Um, unless that player is a super low player low attacker Um, she just holds everybody. She holds everybody It's you can't take her in the 1v1 very easily and and if you do we're we're ready and there to help her so You know her her being on the field is just invaluable So I'm so glad to see that all five were recognized so positively and um, I you know, I think it's great for our team Great recognition for our team And getting back to the field. Do you have a max semi-final contest against fifth seeded wide nerf who upset all bright In the first round game. You defeated the pride 20 to 12 in the first first reading their high scoring team It's their first first playoff win in their 39 year history So, you know, I think they they're excited. They feel the fire. What's the go to the key of the game You know that the the coach at winer has done a really good job I think the key is understanding how to play left handers. I think what they do Is is something that we don't see on a regular basis as within the conference or even even out of conference games Having two left handers, uh, you have to change your defensive strategy And I think early on in games sometimes Um, that's difficult to kind of get used to and get in the flow of They have the offensive player of the year, you know, obviously, uh, she can score goals and and she's in equal threat with feeding We slowed her down before I fully expect that we'll slow her down again We'll make the adjustments that we didn't make in the first game with dealing with a second left-hander We've gotten a lot better in their stack play. Um, I think it's going to come down to how we handle their defense You know in the game that we played them back in a couple weeks ago I can't remember how long ago it was, you know, we shot the ball 53 times I don't know if we've ever shot the ball 53 times So we got to make a lot more of those shots if we want to win this game So, um, we've got to make sure we're moving the keeper I thought the keeper was was the most dynamic part of the game their game the last time we saw them And you know, we've been practicing all week to make sure that uh, we're ready for her Well, coach, wish you the best luck on Wednesday and moving forward. Thank you very much for head coach Kathy Rayleigh I'm Sam Murray and this has been the Kathy Rayleigh show