As a new lacrosse season kicks off, varsity girls lacrosse coach Tim Kirkendall and his players anticipate how new schedule changes will affect their upcoming season.

This season, the team will be playing eight league games and 16 games overall. However, last season, the team played at total of 21 games. Previously the lacrosse league incorporated all teams into one league, but this season, the league has been split into an A league containing the top five teams and a B league with the remaining teams. The MVHS girls varsity lacrosse team has been placed into the A league.

The lacrosse team will be playing against schools such as Gunn High School, Palo Alto High School, Los Altos High School, and Los Gatos High School, requiring them to better prepare for the games against these top teams.

“I want them to push themselves everyday and try to make each other better,” Coach Tim Kirkendall said after deciding to schedule a tough preseason in order to adequately prepare the players. Hopeful about the strong underclassmen joining the team this season, team captain Kirsty Brydon believes that practices must be very effective in order to have a successful season.

“We’re going to have to work more during practice on our plays, and we’re going to really have to play harder defense to ensure that we’re going to be ready,” Brydon said.

With two games a week instead of three, this will allow the team to fit in some extra practices to help compete against the harder teams.

“It’s not about the depth and the amount of games, it’s about how we play in the games,” Kirkendall said.

In order to help combat some of the hurdles that the team may be facing this season coach Kirkendall said he will try to install a competitive edge on the team to allow them to gain more confidence in their abilities as a whole group.

Coach Kirkendall has set the main goal of the season to try and win the league title in the A league.