The player shadows her opponent’s every move, guarding her steps, waiting for an opportunity. At one false move, the ball escapes her adversary’s crosse, and players from both teams scramble to regain possession.

Sweat drips down the athlete’s forehead as she aggressively scoops the ball up into her net and turns toward the goal, breaking away from the knot of competitors.

As many athletes graduate and begin college, they often continue to pursue sports they played in high school: soccer, football or others. Some drop league competition all together.

However, daring to cross into new territory, alumni Jennifer and Michelle Rose, ’08, and Christina Cabias, ’07, tried out for California State University, Fresno’s newly-established lacrosse team.

“I decided to play because, honestly, I really had nothing else to do. I wasn’t playing soccer like I planned to because I missed tryouts,” Jennifer said. “I went out there not knowing anything and just relied on athletic ability.”

Indigenous to eastern Canada, lacrosee has begun to spread in California only recently.

“I had only seen lacrosse on TV so I didn’t know much about it, but it looked like a lot of fun,” Cabias said. “My parents convinced me to just go for it; I had nothing to lose and missed playing competitively.”

Due to experience in both softball and soccer, Cabias felt partially prepared for playing on the team, but the intensity level of college made the experience a new twist on her prior knowledge.

Besides devoting time to three-hour practices five days a week, in addition to two early mornings of weightlifting, Cabias said players must commit their mental focus as well.

“It is a complete different mindset in my opinion; the athletes are much more driven and the level of competition is in a league of its own,” Cabias said. “The amount of training is much more intense, and athletes at this level have a different mentality and motivation than high school athletes.”

Michelle experienced difficulties overcoming her soccer habits and developing new skills at first.

“It’s all hand-eye coordination, which I am not used to at all from playing soccer,” she said. “When I first went out, the basic skills of throwing and catching were hard. I also defend like a soccer player, which was a huge challenge for me to overcome since in lacrosse you defend differently. I get caught watching the ball and it makes me late in guarding my cutter.”

For the Rose twins, overcoming size became another obstacle.

“Low defenders are typically bigger than our size, but we are fast, so in transition from the backfield we can move the ball upfield quickly,” Jennifer said. “Size can be a disadvantage, but I see it as a challenge to just work that much harder when playing.”

Because lacrosse aims to challenge the mental as well as the physical, Michelle learned to prepare herself for games through focus.

“For me, preparing myself is all mental,” Michelle said. “I must be mentally ready or I will be off during the game. I find a place to focus myself and allow myself to block out distractions. I also listen to music to focus myself mentally and physically.”

Jennifer said the motivation provided by coaches helped train her mentally.

“I am the type of player that gets hard on themselves [sic] when making a mistake, but my coaches encourage me a lot and push me to always give one more percent,” she said. “I learn what I did wrong and apply the changes needed to be made to correct the problem, which ultimately helps me become a better player, along with practice.”

Head coach Sue Behme, a two-time All-American lacrosse player in college, encourages her players to keep working hard to excel.

“There’s a lot of skill that goes into the game, and once they get over the frustration, it’s really fun,” Behme said. “What makes lacrosse so great is that it’s a combination of all sports.”

Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the nation, according to Behme. Hoover High School senior Emily Wiebe followed the trend, deciding to join the lacrosse team instead of returning to her regular season of volleyball.

“I wasn’t playing any other sports, and I just wanted to try something new,” Wiebe said. “Also, I’d be able to be on the first lacrosse team [at my school].”

Despite being a beginner at the sport, Wiebe holds high aspirations for her first season.

“My position is attacker, so I’d like to shoot some goals,” Wiebe said. “I also want to beat the best teams, which will probably be Bullard and Edison, and play to win.”

CSU Fresno will play in Cincinnati on March 25. The next home game is April 4 vs. Saint Mary’s College.

For more information about lacrosse, check out lacrosse.org or CSU Fresno’s lacrosse Web site.