Powerhouse Bow takes cue from team leader Larrabee
May 20—BOW — Alex Larrabee knows opposing teams might find her annoying when they play against her and the Bow High School girls lacrosse team.
But the 5-foot-9 senior midfielder is the glue that holds the Falcons' offense together by constantly communicating with her teammates during games.
"The other team might be like, 'That girl is so annoying,' but, for me, I try to be as vocal as possible," Larrabee said after Bow's 12-4 home triumph over previously unbeaten Gilford in a Division III showdown last Wednesday. "Just being a big communicator out there, I think, is huge for me and I genuinely think that's what I try to bring every day is just be that leader for everyone and help them and lean on them and give them positive feedback and not try to be too much but definitely help everyone out."
Larrabee also gets on opponents' nerves with her scoring capabilities and skill on the draw. The Colgate University commit recorded eight goals, including the 200th of her career, secured eight draws and tallied an assist in Bow's victory over Gilford.
The Golden Eagles (10-2) held all but two teams to fewer than 10 goals before they met Larrabee and the Falcons, whose only loss over their first 13 games came at Division I Portsmouth earlier this month.
Larrabee, who also played basketball and field hockey at Bow, recorded her 100th career assist in a 16-6 win over Concord Christian Academy on May 12 and her 300th career point in an 18-2 triumph at Kearsarge last Monday.
Her career goals, assists and points marks are all program records. She reached them despite missing a season due to the pandemic.
As a junior last year, Larrabee tallied 100 draw controls as the Falcons finished as the Division III runner-up to Hopkinton. She has been Bow's go-to player on the draw for the past three seasons.
"In general, she's outstanding," Bow coach Chris Raabe said of Larrabee. "She's got great stickwork, she's got great moves, the other kids are learning from her. Every time she does something, they're like, 'Wow,' and then they're trying to do it. She's making the whole team better just by her presence."
The Falcons led Gilford, 5-0, after the first half. During halftime, Larrabee told her teammates that despite almost everyone on the team (including herself) playing their worst lacrosse all season for 10 minutes of that half, they held Gilford scoreless. The Golden Eagles averaged 17.6 goals per game over their 10-0 start to the season.
After Gilford got on the board 1:09 into the second half, Larrabee powered a 6-1 Falcons run, scoring five goals over that stretch.
"I think people definitely look for her," Raabe said. "I think she does a good job of keeping everybody calm down there (on offense) and she talks a lot."
Larrabee said she leads the Falcons in practice by giving her teammates confidence. So many of her teammates do not realize how good they are, Larrabee said, and she tries to make them see what she does.
One of her pieces of advice to Bow's underclassmen attackers during the Kearsarge game was to be more selfish.
"I was like, 'You're too nice,'" Larrabee said. "'You are open right now. Yes, there's a time and place to pass the ball but you need to shoot it.' Just kind of giving them that backup, that reassurance that they are as good as they think they are."
Larrabee said her teammates and the team's chemistry made her recent program milestones possible. Many of Larrabee's goals and assists have come with help from one of her best friends, junior midfielder Olivia Selleck.
With their chemistry as teammates and friends, Larrabee and Selleck, who scored her 100th career goal in the Concord Christian game, often communicate with just a look on the field.
"She's incredibly fast and she's a really good cutter and I think one of my strong suits is I'm a pretty good feeder," Larrabee said. "I think the big thing is when I'm stuck and I want to pull out of the pressure, I always can just look at her, I can see her. I know she's going to be cutting — going guns blazing with her stick up and I can look for her, which is really reassuring."
While the postseason starts next week, Larrabee and the Falcons have been in playoff mode all season coming off their 13-12 loss to Hopkinton in last spring's D-III final. Bow closes out the regular season this week with a visit to Trinity on Monday and a home bout against Pelham on Wednesday.
"We lost last year by one, so a big emphasis is just redemption and not to take any team for granted. ... Every game is a championship game in our minds," Larrabee said. "It has to be because teams look to come up on you and I think we have a target on our backs."
