Written by Ian Gillen
It is almost time for our women’s lacrosse team season to begin, and the athletes are hoping to start the year out right with strong victories.
Recently, teammates Jenn Schwechheimer and Maeve Healy, Juniors, discussed the team’s performance and stated that they are both very excited to get back out on the field and are hopefully anticipating a good upcoming season. For several reasons, they agreed that this season will be a much better one for the team, such as the fact that more games with played on the home field this year, as opposed to last, where the team spent the majority of their games traveling. Also, due to graduates and unfortunate injuries, the team is much smaller now, which has led to a closer, more tightly-knit group of players. The time the team spends together between practices, games, and traveling, is very important to the teams success. Throughout the season, the players enjoy eating out at restaurants during their travels and during their rigorous pre-season, they spend much of their time together in practice, recovery, and of course, the Commons dining hall. The chemistry felt between the team both on and off the field is an essential part of a victorious season, and has the players very excited to represent Roanoke College with sportsmanship, strength, and success.
Rule changes imposed by the NCAA, such as the addition of a shot clock, are another reason for the team’s optimism about the upcoming season, as these rules cause them to play more sharply, which has led to cleaner plays, less mistakes, and impressive gains on the offensive end.
The team’s first official game will take place away at Methodist on Feb.10 and the first home game vs. Penn State-Abington on Feb. 24.
