After a mediocre opening to the season (3-3, 1-2 at the Peninsula Athletic League championships), the lacrosse team is preparing for a stretch of tough league matchups. Propelled by a strong back three and goalie, the Panthers are looking to turn heads in their upcoming matches.

“We hope to win some more league games and hopefully surprise a couple people by beating the powerhouses,” junior defender Steven Yarmolinsky said.

Burlingame started the season with morale-boosting wins against Lick-Wilmerding and San Benito before being stopped short by Serra, which is widely considered to be among the top lacrosse teams in the Bay Area. After getting back on track with a home conference a win against Los Altos, the Panthers struggled with losses to Los Gatos and Palo Alto.

“We have a pretty strong defense and a really good goalie so stopping them is key and then our attack and middies do the rest. They’ve been doing a good job at scoring so far,” Yarmolinsky said.

Coming up, the Panthers have a gentler stretch of games against less formidable opponents. Immediately following this, they have a tough series of games against the top league opponents, but the confidence of the players is ever present.

“We’re just getting started,” said Yarmolinsky.