The Paris Olympics was not the only opportunity for Greyhounds to compete internationally this summer — five players from the UIndy women’s lacrosse team played in Hong Kong and Portugal, representing Italy, Mexico, Portugal and Canada. Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach Peyton Romig said she is looking forward to seeing what the players experienced and how they grew while playing with some of the best international players.
“It’s really cool to see the girls to bring back things that they learned, that maybe we don’t necessarily do as much at the Division II level, or even just in the United States,” Romig said. “It’s just going to be huge to hear about their experience and learn from them, and have them bring stuff back to us.”
Redshirt sophomore Emily Ghazal and juniors Malaena Michielin and Sage Da Silva, played in the European Lacrosse Championship in Portugal in July. Ghazal, who played with Michielin on Team Italy, said it was refreshing to play with experienced players. She said she thinks it has made her a better player because she had to play a versatile and important role on the team.
“In school, you have a job, you know your role to play, and then there, since you’ve never played with any of these people, you didn’t have to just do the one thing you’re good at, you can just showcase all your skills,” Ghazal said.
Da Silva, who played for Team Portugal, said flexibility was one of the biggest hurdles she had to overcome. Although she said it was difficult for her to learn how to play with new people at first, Da Silva said this experience will translate into learning to play with new members of the team at UIndy as well.
“As the tournament went on, things got better, and you built chemistry with each of your players, almost like a relationship, if you think about it that way, but definitely the first couple games you just have to trust them,” Da Silva said.
Da Silva said playing in the European Lacrosse Championship and representing Portugal boosted her confidence as she looks ahead at the UIndy season. She said being in a new environment and being able to learn all kinds of play styles during the games opened her eyes to what she and her team could accomplish.
Ghazal said many of her teammates on the Italian team as well as their opponents were older and bigger than her, but she realized that she was still playing every minute of the tournament and was good enough to play with everyone else. In addition to gaining confidence, Ghazal said she is grateful that she had the opportunity to play so many games this summer, especially when there are not as many opportunities to play in Canada, where she is from.
“Going in and getting the game experience and really just playing and pouring my heart out into something that was different, but also the same was really, really good,” Ghazal said. “It’s gonna help me going into this season.”
Romig said that while she was playing lacrosse at UIndy, there were players that tried out for international teams, but none that played at the level her players have this summer. She said although the team was small this past season, the fact that there are players committed and good enough to play at the international level is incredible for the program.
“It’s really cool that they get to join all the other best from all of these countries,” Romig said. “And it’s huge that they get to experience other people’s way of playing lacrosse, and then also being able to show them their way of playing lacrosse, and bringing that back to us, and kind of bridging the gap between not only divisions, but also countries.”
In addition to the three Hounds who played in Portugal, Junior Olivia Bladon and incoming freshman Kendall Conrad played in Hong Kong at the World Lacrosse Championship for Team Canada U20 and Team Mexico U20, respectively. As of August 22, Team Canada is second in the world rankings, and Team Mexico is fifteenth, according to World Lacrosse.
