City College formed a Women’s Club Lacrosse Team last August and has been improving their performance since the start of the season.

The team has lost three out of its last four games, and has a small squad at times. But despite setbacks, they have gained momentum throughout the season

For Kendall Schick, lacrosse is all new. She joined the team without knowing anything about the sport.

“I had no idea how it would be. I wanted to join a team, and this seemed interesting,” she said. “I had a very good experience from the beginning. I love it!”

The women’s lacrosse team struggles to create an entire squad for a sport that’s brand new to even some of its own players.

Schick played soccer before, which differs from lacrosse.

“In soccer you have to be skilled with your feet, here you use your hands,” Schick said. “In soccer you have time to go with the ball by yourself, here you have to pass all the time.”

But for both sports, players must be well trained and ready to run, she said.

In lacrosse, injuries are common. The contact sport leaves many bruised. And making matters worse is the fact thatnot all teammates can make it to the games. There are times when not enough players are present to play.

“Sometimes we have to make adjustments,” Coach Jillian Boyd said. When one team is down a player, the opposing coaches understand the situation and decide to continue the game anyway.

“It’s not nice to hammer the whole team down just because they are a man short,” Boyd said.

City College has tried to form a Lacrosse team before.

“Back then, people didn’t show up,” said Cassie Aroyan, the team captain. “This year, our coach is very eager to make it work.” To publicize the team’s existence, the team uses fliers, Facebook pages, and Web sites.

“But I think that the best way to spread the word is just to have a good team,” said Aroyan, who started playing Lacrosse in her first year of high school.

“Before the first practice, I was very nervous,” she said. “I had never even seen a game on TV before.”

But when she played and fell in love.

Most games are played at UCSB, but the team recently played at La Playa Stadium and won.

“I was so excited for them to be there under the lights at City College,” Boyd said. “To get to play on their own home turf, it was a big deal.”

Finding a time for everyone to practice has been a big issue. City College couldn’t provide a good time, so the team practices at UCSB at 7 a.m. three days a week.

“It’s hard to get up in the morning,” Schick said. “But (lacrosse) energizes the day and means that I get my afternoons free.”