The Brown women’s lacrosse team traveled to Fairfax, Va., last weekend to play the Patriots of George Mason University in Bruno’s first regular-season game. The Bears (1-0) conquered the Patriots (0-3) 15-10, with co-captain Bre Hudgins ’14 tallying six points to lead the Bears to victory.
“I thought we all had a lot of fun and overcame a lot of uncontrollable conditions as a team, which was why we were successful,” Hudgins said. “We played as a team and were always backing each other up.”
The team captains his season, in addition to Hudgins, are Lindsay Minges ’13 and Tara Rooke ’13.
“I just hope to be a great leader for this team,” Hudgins said. “We have so much potential, and I know all of us are so focused on making history and getting to the Ivy Tournament.”
The women’s lacrosse team has a talented freshman class of nine players who are expected to have a “huge impact” on the team’s success this season, Hudgins said. But the team lost goalie Isabel Harvey ’12 when she graduated last year.
“We’re really going to miss Harvey, but (Kellie Roddy ’15) got a lot of time as well last year,” said Abbey Van Horne ’14, a starting defender. “I think her and Tori Holland (’16) complement each other well.”
Van Horne added that she is excited about the defense, as the returning defensive players have a lot of experience playing together and have “great chemistry.”
In addition to new players, the Bears have added a new assistant coach to their staff: Sarah Holden, a recent graduate of Syracuse University and former attacker for the Big Orange, who came aboard in October.
“I love what Sarah has done for our attack so far and also love having her as someone who played so recently and knows exactly the shoes we are in,” Van Horne said. Holden has helped increase the “team swag” by providing spirit gear, she added. Holden joins the women’s lacrosse staff alongside returning Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00, who is entering her ninth season, and Assistant Coach Meg Miller, who is in her seventh season with the Bears.
The women’s lacrosse team finished last season with a 6-8 record. A major aspect that the Bears want to focus on this season is team chemistry, Van Horne said.
“In the off-season, we had a lot of leadership training and worked a lot on creating values to get everyone on the same page,” Van Horne said.
The team’s roster is also relatively young, with 17 underclassmen and just four seniors. This “makes it easier to integrate the freshmen and make it really clear what the team is all about,” Van Horne said.
The Bears will take on the Columbia Lions at Stevenson Field at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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