High Expectations for Women’s Lacrosse

There was only one team that was able to reach the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) during the 2013-2014 school year, which was the women’s lacrosse team. This wasn’t a huge surprise within the Little East Conference (LEC) for the team to get to the NCAA tournament, as they had been the pre-season favorite.

What made it a surprise, is that the Panthers were finally able to get the monkey, or in the case of previous seasons, the Warriors (Eastern Connecticut State University),  or Colonials (Western Connecticut State University) off their back. Between both ECSU and WCSU, they had knocked the Panthers out of the playoffs the previous couple of seasons. Instead, in 2014, PSU received a lower seed in the LEC playoffs last season, and allowed them to become motivated, and encouraged them to take the challenge of playing two of the best teams in the conference on the road.

Two road wins over West Conn and Keene State College later, PSU is the LEC champion for the first time since 2006.

By capturing the conference title last season, there is a new target on the Panthers’ back, as they were picked to win the conference in a pre-season poll. With the title of defending champion, as well as pre-season favorite, Plymouth will be sure to get every team’s best shot, as they will look to knock the best off of their perch. That potential, of another team knocking them off of the top spot, has resulted in a ton of hard work over the off-season.

“We are aware that there will be a target on our backs this year, and I that this has motivated us to work harder than we ever have,” senior captain Molly Gleason (Haverhill, MA) stated. Gleason isn’t the only one that believes in this philosophy, as fellow senior captain Rachel Fistori (Medford, MA) agrees. “We are still earning it, and that is what we wear on our shirts; this is a new season and a new year to EARN IT.”

There are a number of new players on the team that will learn, and have learned, what the whole “Earn it” philosophy exactly means. There are 12 freshman on this year’s team that will look to make their mark within the Little East Conference itself, as well as the NCAA as a whole.

“There is a lot of great young talent for both attack and defense,” Fistori explained. With a large percentage of the team composed of younger players, it was tough to narrow it to a few specific names to single out, but Gleason was able to. “On defense, Sophia Guerriero (Essex, MA) will be someone to look out for, as well as the attacking threats Megan TIngley (Natick, MA), Abbie McCaffrey (Bolton, MA), Caity O’Leary (Gloucester, MA) and Sammy Sullivan (Canton, MA),” Gleason stated.

Having so many freshman being able to contribute can be a great thing, as A) they won’t be as well scouted/known by opposing teams B) they have the ability to bring new energy to the team and C) they bring a new talent to the team that it may have previously lacked. On the other side of the spectrum, freshman players also have the ability to potentially crumble under pressure, and also have to put in more work then they previously did in high school.

Fortunately for those freshman, there is an extremely strong core of seniors that have helped guide this team over the past three seasons.

Aside from Gleason and Fistori, senior captains Amy MacDonald (Hull, MA) and Shannon Connerty (Nashua, NH) have had fantastic careers on the offensive end of the field, totaling 172 career points for MacDonald, and 168 career points for Connerty. While their play on the field is exceptional, they are equally as good leaders, helping their younger counterparts improve their games as well. Both players understand how crucial it is for these younger players to succeed in order to repeat that success of last season.

One player that isn’t on this season’s team is Lorin Field, who graduated last season after being named 2^nd-team All-American as a goalie. Replacing Field is yet another senior captain in Casey Curran (Framingham, MA), who finally gets an opportunity in net with Field graduating. While Curran may not have the experience of other opposing goalie, she has gained a colossal amount of knowledge from that of Field, who returned to coach at Plymouth. Through three seasons, Curran has played about 300 total minutes, or the equivalent of about 5 total games.

The mix of having a bunch of younger players on the team to compliment a strong core of seniors bodes well for 2015, as well as future teams. Those future teams aren’t something that this team is looking at, as they believe this team will continue to be dominant in the Little East Conference, and make noise within the NCAA. “We have the potential to repeat last year and beyond,” Fistori added.

As the 2015 season starts to get going with games (the team’s first game took place on March 3^rd against Gordon College), all of the Panthers will truly start to mold together to become a dominant, and tough team for all of their opponents.

Prediction

Eastern Connecticut (3) over Southern Maine (6) 17-5

Western Connecticut (5) over Rhode Island College (4) 10-7

Plymouth State (1) over Western Connecticut (5) 16-6

Eastern Connecticut (3) over Keene State (8-7)

Plymouth State (1) over Eastern Connecticut (3) 15-8

Bowdoin over Plymouth State 11-8

LEC OPoY- Amy MacDonald

LEC DPoY- Casey Curran

LEC RoY- Megan Tingley