On Dec. 8, 2022, Wakefield High School’s women’s lacrosse team brought on a new coach. Coach Sasha Mohar, or as the team now calls her, Coach Mo, has taken on the task of leading her team through a successful season. With a primarily new team and a new coach, these women are working to find their dynamic and reach their goal of improving their 5-5 win-loss record to a winning season. As she gets to know her players, Coach Mo is experiencing the excitement and challenges of working with a new team.

“Every time you take over a program, you have to establish new expectations and [develop] a culture that aligns with your coaching style, the players and the direction you want the program to move in,” Mohar said. 

Jessie Dean, sophomore goalie, while excited about the change, reflects on the difficulties of connecting with a new coach.

“It’s a lot of different adjustments with a new coaching style,” Dean said. “But we’re all adapting to it and we all just want to be better than we were last year.”

Coach Mo has risen to achieve that goal, and her players have already started to see the benefits. Junior captain Katie Herb has noticed significant improvement across the team as a whole since last year’s season.

“Last year our coach was very relaxed, but this year our coach puts a lot more emphasis on team bonding as well as more time devoted to lacrosse,” Herb said. “Practices are longer and more intense and we have team bonding almost every week.”

The general consensus across the team last year was that chemistry was the main setback toward their success. Senior captain Katie Tan is excited to see the active role Coach Mo has taken in encouraging team’s morale this season.

“This year it’s [impossible] to not have chemistry because we are always together,” Tan said. “On Saturdays, we are either volunteering, practicing or doing fun team bonding activities.”

Because this team is so young, made mostly of freshmen and sophomores, the upperclassmen are hopeful that this chemistry will grow and carry over into next year. Even with the underclassmen dominating, the team is full of experience. 

“We have a lot of freshmen who play outside of the school team,” Herb said. “Having that experience, better stick skills and overall more knowledge of the game helps build everyone up.” 

In addition, Coach Mo has placed an emphasis on hard work and dedication to the game itself. Coach Mo was excited to see the potential in her players when the season started, and her competitive spirit has spread to the rest of the team. The players’ determination to reach their goals has grown, and they are more motivated than ever to win.

“I hope [we] beat Heritage,” Tan said. “We were so close last game, losing by one point, but it was one of the best games we’ve ever played and I believe that we will beat them next time.” 

Coach Mo has instilled the importance of individual effort to boost the team as a whole in her players. The phrase ‘a team is only as strong as its weakest link’ is something she carries with her into her career, and diligently works to strengthen every link.

“Our goal is to continue to grow each day, to be great individually so that the team can be great together, and to build the chemistry among the players on and off the field,” Coach Mo said. “If we accomplish this, the rest will come.”