After the torrential weather we had been faced with leading up to Nationals it was questionable whether the tournament would go ahead. However, after the go ahead from England Lacrosse Queen’s set off on their journey to Aldershot on the Friday evening. After a long journey and some pre-tournament carb loading they arrived late Friday evening and headed straight for an early night ready for the tough day of competition ahead.
An early start saw the girls ready and raring to go, not phased by the torrential down pour that greeted them. However, much to everyone’s disappointment they received news from England Lacrosse that play would be delayed and a decision would be made by 10am regarding whether play would go ahead. Remaining in optimistic spirts the girls gathered for a team talk awaiting the news. The time came, and after a full morning of rain the decision was made to postpone Saturdays play and run the entire competition on the Sunday. This left the girls with an afternoon of team bonding and a bit of healthy completion. The LAX was swapped for a great team game of lazer quest.
Sunday morning arose and they were greeted with some glorious sunshine. After a team breakfast the girls headed to the pitches at Aldershot Garrison Sports complex to face the day of competition. They had a tough group but were ready to take on whatever the opposition threw at them. The day started well with a 6-1 win over Loretto School, followed by a tougher 2-2 draw against Glenalmond College but then a strong finish to the group stages with a 7-0 win against Tudor Hall. This put Queen's top of the group and heading through to the quarter finals.
The quarter finals greeted them with a local derby as Queen's took on Birkenhead School. After a hard fought game and golden goal overtime the result remained a draw. However, due to the strong performance in the group stages Queen’s proceeded to the semi finals on goal difference. Here they faced Cheltenham Ladies College. The semi was a close competition game and Queen’s came out with a 3-2 win. This result put them through to the National Schools Division 2 Finals to face last year’s finalists Marlborough College. The game was close and hard fought by all but unfortunately Queen’s came away with a narrow 3-2 loss. Nonetheless there was some fantastic lacrosse and celebrations by the girls and all were proud to receive their silver medals.