By Kelly McNeil, Staff Writer
Every afternoon during lacrosse season, seniors Juli Pascual and Emerci Jones could be found behind Paisley Middle School with smiles on their faces, lacrosse sticks in their hands, and sweaty pennies in their bags.
Pascual has been playing lacrosse since sixth grade when she decided to try out the sport her dad had played during high school, while Jones learned of the sport freshman year when one of her teammates on the basketball team encouraged her to try out.
“After basketball practice, (Lindsay Fadel) would go to lacrosse practice and I never really knew what lacrosse was so I asked her,” Jones said. “She said I might as well come try out for the team. She had to teach me how to play and how to hold the stick and throw.”
Even though Pascual and Jones had different introductions to the sport, they both became integral parts of the varsity lacrosse team this season.
“What I’m going to miss the most with both of them is having that smiling face and positive attitude,” assistant coach David Roberts said. “Nothing gets them down.”
Freshman Maggie Welsh reiterated Roberts’ feelings and added how she looks up to both seniors, especially how they had to step up this season. After the team’s only goalie was ruled out for two games with a concussion, Jones volunteered to play the position even though she only had experience playing defense.
“With Emerci playing goalie and stepping up, that’s inspiring. She really took one for the team,” Welsh said.
Jones was thrown into the game against Lake Norman, the No. 1 team in the state, with only three days of goalie practice. She managed an impressive 13 saves, helping the team stay within a few goals of Lake Norman for the majority of the game.
“Emerci will do anything that’s asked of her by the coach no matter what it is. She is positive 100 percent of the time,” Roberts said.
Pascual, co-captain for a second year, helped the team by communicating between the players and coaches.
“Juli is like the coach on the field,” Roberts said. “She communicates a lot with me and Coach Brynn (Lewallen) about what’s going on and what would be a good thing to do and what wouldn’t be a good thing to do.”
Both Pascual and Jones plan on continuing to play lacrosse in college on club teams, with Jones attending Appalachian State University and Pascual going to Coastal Carolina just outside Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Something they hope to recreate on their teams in college will be the bond of the Reynolds team this year.
“I love how much of a family we are,” Jones said. “We just met each other a couple months ago and we act like we’ve know each other forever.”
Added Pascual: “I love the bond of this team. I love how we can always depend on each other and it’s just relieving. I don’t have to worry about anything else when I’m out there. I just focus on the game.”