The anticipation that precedes a fledgling season in any sport is often palpable. The first moments of the season serve as concrete evidence of what months of preseason training have produced. The women’s lacrosse team saw the first fruits of a grueling offseason in their season-opening trip to California. The Tigers are gearing up for their 19th season since the program’s inception in 1995.
The team is lead by Head Coach Susan Stuart, who was a legend on the field. Stuart has been named West Region Coach of the Year three times by Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association and has also been named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the year. With a fantastic coach like Stuart and a roster of 35 players, this team has great potential for this year and the years to come.
The team unveiled an extremely tough schedule for this season, but senior Captain Leigh Nicholl is confident that the team will perform well in the games ahead.
“The tougher teams we play, the more we will improve,” said Nicholl. “You don’t become great beating teams who can’t throw or catch.”
This demanding schedule will increase the chances of the CC women’s lacrosse team appearance in the NCAA post-season Tournament, which is a major goal of theirs.
“The past years, we’ve kind of been cheated out of a spot for one reason or another, ” said Nicholl. Since leaving the SCAC, their schedule has gotten progressively tougher, but then again so has the team.
So what makes this team so much different and have more potential to make things happen out on the lacrosse field? Sophomore Colleen Orr says because of “The Program” they participated in during pre-season, the team trusts each other and relies on one another more so than the past year. The Program was conducted by a pair of ex-Marines, and the lacrosse teams’ mental and physical toughness was tested during intense unison conditioning. The girls participated in challenges such as pool sessions. Orr also states that senior captains Nicholl and Virginia Logue are fundamental to this team’s success, but that The Program proved that anyone can lead the team, and everyone is respectful of that.
Players to watch out for this season include senior defensive specialist Kirby Leyshon, who is a vocal leader, Lydia Freliech and Abbe Sawabini, two very strong sophomore defenders. Offensively, Virginia Logue and Maddy Pitkin lead the attack and make sure everyone is on the same page once the ball crosses the midfield.
The team recently came back from California with an impressive win over Cabrini College and a tough loss to Claremont-Mudd Scripps Colleges.
“We lost to Cabrini by two points last year, and we were fired up and ready to go for this game,” said Orr.
The team played as a unit, which secured the 18-15 win against Cabrini. The CMs game was an evenly paired match-up, and the team played through the rain and had a six-goal comeback in the last quarter, Sadie Cole and Mary Taussig were essential in this game. Although it was a heartbreaking loss of 13-14, it proves the team’s determination to fight.
The bottom line is that this team has fun together. Nicholl says, “We have a good balance of focus and knowing when to have a good time.”
One of the pre-game rituals for the team is getting amped in the locker room to “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus. The team kicks off a 10-game home stretch this week with Susquehanna and Augustana slated to visit Washburn Field.