GETTING UP TO SPEED: Stuart Country Day School lacrosse player Emily Ix races up the field in recent action. Junior star and team captain Ix tallied three goals in a losing cause as Stuart fell 12-10 to Lawrence High last Monday. The Tartans, now 0-4, play at the Pennington School on April 19. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Opening its 2022 campaign last week, the Stuart Country Day School lacrosse team hit the ground running with three games in five days.

While the Tartans ran into some tough foes, losing 17-7 to Princeton Day School on April 4, 12-6 to Peddie last Thursday, and then got edged 13-11 by South Brunswick a day later, Stuart junior star midfielder and co-captain Emily Ix saw plenty of positives

“It has been really fun, we have definitely had a lot of good competition,” said Ix, who has three goals and an assist in the loss to South Brunswick.

“It is helping us out. We are learning a lot, we are improving. I am really proud of our girls.”

The Tartans applied some of those lessons in the second half against South Brunswick, outscoring the Vikings 7-4 in the second half after trailing 9-4 at intermission.

“We came out after halftime and said we have to do this, we are capable,” said Ix.

“We went out there and gave it our all. We were hustling, that really changed it for us.”

In Ix’s view, Stuart showed progress in a number of areas over the course of opening week.

“Our team chemistry and working the ball up the field on transition has improved,” said Ix.

“Our defense, sliding, helping each other and communicating is better.”

As a team captain, Ix looks to encourage communication on and off the field.

“My role is bringing a lot of positive energy and talking,” said Ix.

“I think I bring a lot of leadership to the team, just bringing all of the grades together and working together.”

On offense, Ix is looking to be a positive force and is forming a one-punch with freshman standout Allison Lee, who had six goals against South Brunswick.

“As I have gotten older, I have had more of a role in scoring,” said Ix, who added three more goals on Monday in a 12-10 loss to Lawrence High as the Tartans moved to 0-4.

“I work with Allison a lot. She has been great; she is incredible. I have loved spending time with her, getting to know her. I think we are developing a pretty good bond together.”

Playing both field hockey and basketball has helped Ix become more versatile on the lacrosse field.

“The main thing I love about it is that I get to play a lot of sports with my teammates,” said Ix.

“I get a lot of skills from my different sports. My defense comes from basketball and my passing comes from field hockey. Lacrosse is my favorite sport. I love the pace of the game. I love working with my teammates and scoring. It has been great to be on the field again. We are really looking forward to the tournaments.”

While Stuart head coach Mark Maser liked seeing his team hit the field, he acknowledged that they didn’t get enough practice time to make adjustments.

“It is good to see different teams, it is good to have an opportunity to keep building confidence and be in tight games,” said Maser.

“The downside is you can learn some things in one game but you don’t really have time to implement it before the next game.”

Maser saw some good things in the second half of the South Brunswick game.

“We were a little bit more aggressive on defense,” said Maser.

“We played with a lot more urgency on offense, we were taking advantage of fast break opportunities.”

The tandem of Lee and Ix is triggering the Tartan offense.

“Allison did have a very good game, we can count on her to do the right things when she has the ball and make right decisions,” said Maser.

“She works very well with Emily Ix, they do have a connection already. They seem to know where the other is going to be which is important. Emily is the little engine that could – I think I can, I think I can and she does it.”

Sophomore Isabel Milley had two goals against the Vikings and senior co-captain Kaitlyn Magnani shored up the defense as they both had good games in different roles

“That was a little change of pace for us today; Isabel normally plays defense and today we decided to move her up to the offense a little bit,” said Maser.

“We needed some more experience on defense so we moved Kaitlyn back. Isabel rose to the occasion and Kaitlyn did too in the backfield.”

In goal, sophomore Alex Mandzij rose to the occasion, making eight saves.

“Alex played the whole game, she did a good job,” said Maser.

“She is learning in the cage. She stepped up and made some saves when they really count.”

With Stuart playing at the Pennington School on April 19, Maser is looking to see his players keep stepping up.

“We are going to work on being more aggressive on defense and challenging players a little bit more,” said Maser.

“We were giving them a little bit of a cushion, we were playing a prevent defense. I think we need to get closer to them that way. On the offensive side of the ball, it is taking advantage of the fast break opportunities when they come.”

Ix, for her part, believes the Tartans will take advantage of opportunities going forward.

“It is just getting our momentum going and really finishing,” said Ix.

“We are getting the ball down but sometimes we are not getting a ground ball or just not completing the play. It is working on the fundamentals and keeping the pace going the whole game.”