The 2002 women’s lacrosse team enters its season with an extremely young team, but young does not always mean inexperienced. The Red Hawks have set high standards for themselves this season and they intend to improve from one game to the next to achieve their goals.
“We want to take each game to a higher level than the one before,” said Assistant Coach Leslie Khachadourian.
As for long-term goals, the team aims to advance to postseason play in the state tournament, a lofty goal in a conference as competitive as the UCAA. The state of New York is home to a few nationally ranked teams, which makes the New York State tournament a battleground for serious competition in women’s lacrosse.
The team suffers the loss of three attackers from last season, leaving only one senior behind. However, being such a young team will provide an element of surprise against supposedly stronger teams. Khachadourian feels that “being in the underdog position is a good place for us. You can expect us to knock off some pretty good teams, where people might not expect us to. We just might scare a few teams in our conference.”
As an entire unit, the team has improved their stick skills tenfold from past seasons. The Red Hawks are well-rounded, as their squad has improved from the attack down to the goalie. Already the captains—senior Amy Gontarek and junior Cater Ortolano—are taking charge, leading by example. Other leaders include sophomore Mary Roy, who will be a crucial link in the midfield with her game sense and stick skill. Sophomore Amy Larsen and junior Katie Speanburg will play a large role in the Red Hawks’ transition game with their speed and agility on the wings. Mary Beth Cooley, Kim Yates, and Jen Celli will be the go-to players in the critical scoring areas.
“Yates and Celli are both finesse players with the ability to weave through defenders and place the goal in the back of the net. Cooley creates opportunities well, and has a knack for capitalizing on goal scoring plays,” Khachadourian said.
On the defensive unit, sophomore Alyssa Klem is expected to shut down any team’s scoring threats with her extreme defensive skills. The goalkeeper sets the pace for the rest of the team, and freshman Meg Gaul will have an immediate impact on the field for the Red Hawks. Says Coach, “She is solid in the cage with great instincts, mental toughness, and amazing stick skills.”
The team, though, has a great many challenges ahead of them because of the calibre of their conference opponents. “Key teams to beat this season are Union and Skidmore, as always,” explains Ortolano. The challenge remains to compete consistently throughout the season to prepare for the conference match-ups by the end of the regular season. However, they also need to fight past aggressive non-conference teams like Hartwick and Rochester.
Now that the team is back from their spring training, they jump into their six-week season. After a long preseason, they are ready to get going with their season schedule. The Red Hawks traveled to Oneonta on Tuesday to kick things off, and their home opener is Thursday at 4 pm against Hartwick.
