Coming off of two back-to-back Commonwealth Conference Championships and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, the Elizabethtown College women’s lacrosse team prepares for its upcoming season. With last season’s record of 12-7 overall and just two losses in their conference, the Jays are ready to improve and move forward in the season ahead of them.
With the resignation of last year’s coach, who worked with the Blue Jays for just one short season, they now have a new interim coach. Taking the role as head coach will be Danielle Seling and Linda Delaney is serving as the team’s assistant coach. Seling first started to coach at Etown in the 2009-2010 season under then coach Mike Faith. That season, the team accomplished many goals, one of which included the highest winning percentage in program history (.842). As an assistant, Seling helped to accomplish a perfect season with a 12-0 record as well.
Along with the head coach’s resignation, many of the original players decided to not come back after last season. “With the loss of the previous year’s players, I figured it was a great opportunity to learn and experience the sport. I have always been curious if I would be able to learn and enjoy the game or not, so I decided to try it,” first-year Krissy Pennel said.
This upcoming season will be a new start for the players as well as the staff. With little experience going into the season, many are hopeful of the outcome. “Having a lot of new players on the team has definitely been one of our biggest challenges, but it has also been one of our greatest strengths, because it has given us all a common struggle to bond over and a clean slate to learn from our coaches at the same time,” sophomore Dana Robidoux said. This will be Robidoux’s first season with the women’s team. “I think time will tell with the season and how much of a connection we all really have,” Robidoux said. “Hopefully we keep improving as we keep playing in games and practices and get more experience as the season progresses on.”
With a new outlook coming into this season, the 11 seniors who graduated last year will be replaced with 11 first-years. Without a single player from last year, the team will consist of 19 underclassmen and six upperclassmen.
“I’m excited to learn the game and start fresh with this sport. It will be a very unique experience because of the variety of different experience levels and I am interested to see how fast we all learn the game and can come together as a team,” Pennel said. The many young players will be looked upon to step up in this upcoming season for the Blue Jays. Since the season started in early February, preparation for the three-month season is underway.
The Blue Jays had their first game of the season on Tuesday when they traveled to Dickinson University to take on the Red Devils.
The high-powered offense of Dickinson was to much for the young Blue Jays to handle. From the initial whistle, the Red Devils controlled the speed of play. Dickinson won all 20 draws on the day.
Despite the loss, first-year goalie Beata Palosz made seven saves in her first game in a Blue Jays uniform. Etown’s two shots were taken by first-years Kasey Scully and Becky Graessle.
The Blue Jays will be back on the field Saturday when they travel to take on Messiah College at 1 p.m.
