Women's Lacrosse Gains Momentum After Successful Spring Break

A change in scenery was just what the doctor ordered for the Plymouth State Women's Lacrosse team, as they were able to capture two wins in North Carolina and Virginia over Spring Break. The two wins give the Panthers a .500 record (at 2-2), as they look to start to gain momentum back in New England.

For Spring Break, Head Coach Kristin Tracy likes to bring her team to various places around the country that you may not think to go on vacation to. Over the past few years, the team has traveled to Oregon, Texas, and Colorado so that the team would be able to experience a new culture that they may have never interacted with. Since the team had gone West of the Mississippi River over the past three seasons, Tracy decided that going to Greensboro, North Carolina would be a new adventure for the team.

Tracy, who is in her fifth year as a head coach for the Panthers, was spot on with this Spring Break.

Despite the fact that Tracy was not going to be able to go due to her upcoming labor, she had a schedule set out that featured a number of surprises for the team. Since the team took a bus down to North Carolina, a stop was made in New York City on the way down, and Washington D.C. on the way back north.

In New York City, the team walked around Times Square, and visited various places, such as M&M World, Hard Rock Café, as well as a five-story Nike store. A number of players on the team had not been to The Big Apple before, so the surprise was one that they will not forget. The team was also able to see the New York Skyline at night, which is an awesome site for those who can appreciate the city life. Due to being in NYC at night, a record number of "selfies" were also taken as well.

Upon waking up the following morning to travel down to North Carolina, the team was able to practice down South on an outdoor field. Despite having weather conditions that included sleet, snow, rain and wind, the team was happy to be on their Spring Break.

One of the highlights of the break was that the team was able to meet the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse champions at the University of North Carolina (UNC). Aside from many of the Panthers being in awe of some of the best players in the world, they were able to interact with members on the team after watching the defending champion Tar Heels practice.

After seeing the champions practice, the Panthers shifted their focus en route to capturing their own championship this season. In their first game over break (they had one of their games, against Greensboro College, canceled due to the weather), PSU captured a 16-6 win (on Mar. 19), that wasn't even as close as the score indicated. Junior Captain Amy MacDonald (Hull, MA) had three goals and three assists in the game to lead the Panthers in points, while freshman Caroline Vonachen (Framingham, MA) found the back of the net four times for Plymouth. Not only was this the first win of the 2014 season for PSU, but this was also interim Head Coach Kristen Guest's first game and win as a Head Coach. Guest, who was a two-year captain for PSU (in 2012 and 2013), also had help from Conor Davis.

Since PSU was in North Carolina for a few days, this resulted in them having back-to-back games, as they played Meredith College the following day (Mar. 20). The Panthers were able to get off to a quick lead, as MacDonald, Vonachen, and Jordyn Godfrey combined to score five goals in the first 11:14 of the game. By getting an early five-goal lead, this was enough for the Panthers to coast to a 15-9 victory, as Vonachen, MacDonald, and Godfrey combined for 12 goals. Senior Captain Lorin Field had a strong game between the pipes for PSU. She had 10 saves in net. Molly Gleason (Haverhill, MA) had five ground balls and nine draw controls in the game.

Upon capturing the two wins down South, Plymouth went up to the nation's capital to see the usual tourist hot spots, such as The White House, the Capital Building, Lincoln Memorial, and Washington Memorial, as well as the Arlington National Cemetery.  A lot of history was learned by the coaches and players alike, and an extremely powerful moment was watched when the changing of the guard happened at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. 

For the trip, the Panthers had a lot of fun seeing a new culture that they may not have known before, and ultimately did what they needed to do, capturing two wins. Since 2011, this team had and 8-0 record against their Spring Break opponent, which goes to show how tough of a conference the Little East Conference is.

The Panthers next game was against Castleton State College, which took place on Thursday (Mar. 27) and was unable to be mentioned in this article.  Upon the calendar turning to April, the season will start to really get going, as the team will have nine games over a 25-day span. Look for Plymouth to start to roll, and capture important conference and non-conference wins as the season progresses.