Moran, Simon lead Huskies into the playoffs

The Owatonna girls lacrosse team has already had a very successful season, going 11-2 during the regular season and winning the Big 9 Championship and a significant reason for its success has been the play of sophomore midfielder Annika “Annie” Moran and junior attacker Audrey Simon.
Moran leads the Huskies in points, 65, and goals, 54, and is second on the team with 11 assists, while Simon leads the Huskies in assists, 30, and has the second-most points, 62, and goals, 32.
Simon believes what makes her and Moran so effective at scoring goals and recording assists is the Huskies’ strong team bond and communication.
“My grade has been playing with the seniors a while now so we definitely have that connection on the field. Also, I’ve been playing with Annie for a while so I’ve been working with these girls for almost my whole lacrosse life,” she said. “They’re always helping us get open shots. It wouldn’t be possible without them.”
Head Coach Dani Licht agreed.
“They [Moran and Simon] are wonderful players who work their butts off to make sure that they are the ones driving to the net, but the rest of the team and a lot of the seniors work their butts off to get them some of those opportunities,” she said. “I think it’s a huge collective effort of working our behinds off just to get to the other side and then these guys make it look nice and easy and put it in the back of the net.”
While their teammates help get them those scoring chances, it’s up to Moran and Simon to take advantage of those opportunities.
Moran is able to capitalize on her scoring chances, Simon said, due to her assertive playing style.
“She’s really aggressive and works really hard. Me and her we just have a great connection on the field, I’m always able to find her for a quick pass. We just work really well together,” she said.
Moran agreed that their connection is evident on the field.
“I agree with what she said about how we are just able to find each other,” she said. “I know she’s really good at looking up and passing the ball. She’s also good at taking the ball and scoring.”
Not only are both Moran and Simon good at scoring, but Licht said they’re good at scoring often.
“These guys in particular are scoring a lot of goals every single game. There’s only been one game where it’s been a lit questionable about how many they’re going to put in the back of the net and it was the Century game. And that was both of these two were doubled and tripled every single second that they had the ball or even doubled and tripled to make sure the ball didn’t go to their stick,” she said. “Every other opportunity they’ve had they get themselves open and get themselves opportunities.”
While the Huskies’ overtime loss to Rochester Century ruined their undefeated season, Licht views it as a blessing in disguise.
“It gave us the ability to evaluate where we’re at and it gave them a lot to learn in that next practice to make sure that they’re getting themselves open as well as protecting their sticks,” she said. “I see a continued streak of multiple goals coming from these guys.”
To keep scoring multiple goals each game, Moran and Simon will have to find ways to elude defenses that will try to double or triple them.
When she’s facing two or three defenders, Moran said she tries, “my best to pull it out and look for the open girl and sometimes I’ll pull myself away from the play to draw defenders with me and leave more openings for other people.”
Likewise, Simon said having extra attention on her should benefit Owatonna’s offense.
“It definitely opens me up more for assists because if there’s defenders who are more focused on what’s going on behind the net, we’re able to get a lot more cutters through and then I can pop it in and able to get a score,” she said.
Given how Simon and Moran have learned to handle getting double or tripled and how the Huskies have grown since their loss to Rochester Century, Owatonna seems to be in a good position to make a deep run in the section playoffs.
The only question that remains is: How far can Simon, Moran and the Huskies go?