After posting a less-than-spectacular 7-8 overall record (2-5 Ivy) last year, the women's lacrosse team will have to put forth a consummate effort to contend for an Ivy League title. This season, the Bears' motto will be "the team is our superstar," said Head Coach Keely McDonald '00.
"That's what it's going to come down to for us," McDonald said. "Every player's going to need to step up."
The rookies will add a lot to the team, despite not having college-level experience, McDonald said.
"The freshman class has significant depth," she said. "We have more numbers this year and practices are significantly more competitive for each spot."
McDonald emphasized that expectations of their performances on the field are very high. "They need to step up and play not as freshmen," McDonald said.
The new faces should be promising signs for the Bears, who lost such players as Paris Waterman '11, Alexa Caldwell '11 and Tori Conway '11.
The Bears (2-2, 1-1 Ivy) most recent game was this Saturday, when they hosted No. 14 Princeton. Having beaten both Columbia 14-10 and Manhattan College 9-2 away March 3 and 4, respectively, Bruno felt confident about its matchup against the Tigers. But within the first 13 minutes of play, Princeton managed to slot in six goals.
Thanks to goals by Bre Hudgins '14 and Kaela McGilloway '12, the Bears began a small comeback. But it did not take long for the Tigers to strike again, and by halftime, Bruno was down 9-3.
After the break, Princeton quickly found the back of the net. Hudgins and Lindsay Minges '13 each scored, narrowing the deficit to 10-5.
Back and forth scoring continued, with Danielle Mastro '14, Alexandra Crerend '15 and Julia Keller '12 each adding tallies to the scoreboard. But Princeton still dominated, beating the Bears 18-8.
While McDonald bemoaned that the team let in six early goals, she said she was proud of how the Bears competed throughout the rest of the game.
"To know how much fight we have in this time is a really good thing for us moving forward," she said.
