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East County News Service
Photo: sophomore Riley Shaw scores against Ramona.
April 22, 2021 (El Cajon) - The Valhalla girls' lacrosse team is off to an impressive start to the 2021 season. The East County team has won five of their first six games, with their lone defeat coming in an overtime thriller at Mission Bay.
An aggressive and physical defense anchored by twins Kalissa and Brielle Moore and goalkeeper Iris Workman has frustrated opposing teams. On offense, a speedy Valhalla midfield and attack led by sophomore Riley Shaw averages over nine goals a game.
The team's record is impressive, especially considering that the program has only been in existence for three years and the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of last year's season.
Lacrosse, a widely popular sport on the East Coast for many years, is now the fastest-growing youth sport in the United States. Over the last five years, the number of schools nationwide sponsoring lacrosse at the high school level has risen 27 percent. However, in 2019 only five of the eleven schools in the Grossmont Athletic Conference participated in girls lacrosse.
Recognizing both the rising popularity of the sport and the absence of a girls team at Valhalla, Coach Benjamin Upham, a former college ice hockey player, oversaw the creation of the school's program three years ago.
Photo, right: Emilee Olander battles two Ramona defenders.
Before moving to California, Upham coached girls lacrosse at Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island. While Upham may have had prior coaching experience, only one girl on the 2019 team had ever picked up a lacrosse stick before. With no girls team, Emily Escalante played the previous season on the boys' squad.
The 2019 team, comprised mostly of freshmen, several who had never even played organized sports previously, finished the season 2-12, suffering some brutally one-sided defeats along the way to more experience programs. But times have changed.
Off-season club participation, especially during the pandemic when high school sports were suspended, helped many Valhalla players improve fundamental skills and conditioning. The team has also benefited from the addition of several players from the girls' soccer program, like senior Nicole Ayyad, who have either transitioned totally to lacrosse or now split their time between the two sports.
The real test for Valhalla comes next week when they play their first of two league games against a Granite Hills team that is currently undefeated and ranked 3rd in the county, according to MaxPreps.
With a core roster of primarily juniors, the future of girls lacrosse at Valhalla is looking very good.
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