Wildcats Look to Repeat Success of 2008
2/16/2009 4:50:05 PM | Women's Lacrosse
Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID
The Wildcats, coming off a school-record 11 wins in the 2008, look to duplicate its success for the 2009 campaign in head coach Kim Wayne's first season.
The 2009 Season Outlook...
Coming off a 2008 season where they recorded the most wins in school history, the 2009 lacrosse squad looks to repeat the feat again this spring. While graduating seven seniors has left a young crew behind, first-year head coach Kim Wayne is excited to direct this squad to another big season.
At the helm with Wayne will be senior captains Becky Horton and Jennifer Lindsey along with junior captain Jen Crawford. Their experience and example will be relied upon to help assimilate five freshmen into the squad.
“We can replicate last season with this new group,” Wayne says. “It was the best season to date and I would like to do that again and then progressively take this program to a new level.”
MIDFIELDERS
With two out of three captains playing in the midfield, the 'Cats will rely upon the play of the midfielders on both sides of the ball. Captains Crawford and Horton will team up with junior returner Haley Cook as the team's three leading scorers from last spring. Each has the speed and ball-handling abilities to lead the squad from all over the field.
Newcomer Erin Keitel will make an immediate impact in the midfield with her great speed and stick skills. These four attackers have proven their offensive powers in seasons past, but Wayne also acknowledges their strong presence on the defensive end.
Additionally, Wayne will look to sophomores Erin Betsch and Danielle Ruggieri and freshmen Liz Wall and Jenna Mugele to spend some quality time in the midfield. With a total of eight midfielders, the fast-break offense that Wayne loves will be a central component of the Wildcat attack.
ATTACK
“We have a strong attacking unit,” Wayne says, “because each player is very unique and will play a different yet important role.”
Veteran senior Callie Seymour will lead the offensive unit from behind the cage with freshman Anna Smith, both of whom have great crease dodging abilities.
Crawford and Cook share great field vision and will look to capitalize on this trait to once again put up big numbers for the 'Cats.
Another senior – freshman combo for this spring will be Horton and Keitel. Their ability to attack off the catch will assuredly put the ball in the back of the net.
The attacking unit will be rounded out by freshman Jenna Mugele's crafty off ball work, junior Emily Rahill's consistency and senior Heather Frohman's field vision.
“I think that we have more of a one-on-one team,” Wayne says, “and that's something that's hard to create. We will look, though, to improve our feeding inside in order to add depth to our offense.”
DEFENSE
The success of the 2008 season was highly dependent on the performance of the Wildcat defense, which returns six members from last year's squad.
“We have a lot of strong defenders,” Wayne says, “and right now we're really focusing on the word 'unit' because we need to be a defensive unit in order to succeed.”
Senior captain Lindsey will play the vocal leadership role on the defensive end of the field. Lindsey will be joined by senior Claire O'Shea and sophomores Erin Betsch, Lily Graham, Lauren Van Husen, and Stella Davis.
O'Shea has been a proven leader over the past three years and despite missing the fall season, she made her presence felt in the opening weeks of preseason. Betsch is one of the team's strongest one-on-one defenders and Graham has improved tremendously over the past year into one of the most technical defenders.
Huse played a strong fall season and is expected to play a big role in the defensive unit this season. Finally, Davis will be one of the keys to the defensive unit because of her strong team defense instincts.
The defense will be bolstered by the hard play of newcomer Laura Renaud and midfielders Ruggieri and Liz Wall, both of whom have great defensive instincts from previous experience on attack.
The final layer of the defense is junior goaltender Michelle Pav. After gaining much experience during her first two seasons as a 'Cat. Wayne cites Pav's ability to step to the ball as her biggest strength and looks forward to her dominant presence between the pipes this spring.
SCHEDULE
The Wildcats open the season with eight home contests in 2009 all played on Smith Field at Richardson Stadium.
Starting with Division II National Championship runner-up C.W. Post on Feb. 16 and ending with home games against Stanford and Duke, Wayne is excited to see the progress the squad makes over the course of the season.
The Wildcats finished off the 2008 campaign with a huge 22-4 win over Howard at home. Of its 17 opponents this year, Davidson faces five of them who were on the schedule from a year ago.
The 2009 Season Outlook...
At the helm with Wayne will be senior captains Becky Horton and Jennifer Lindsey along with junior captain Jen Crawford. Their experience and example will be relied upon to help assimilate five freshmen into the squad.
“We can replicate last season with this new group,” Wayne says. “It was the best season to date and I would like to do that again and then progressively take this program to a new level.”
MIDFIELDERS
With two out of three captains playing in the midfield, the 'Cats will rely upon the play of the midfielders on both sides of the ball. Captains Crawford and Horton will team up with junior returner Haley Cook as the team's three leading scorers from last spring. Each has the speed and ball-handling abilities to lead the squad from all over the field.
Newcomer Erin Keitel will make an immediate impact in the midfield with her great speed and stick skills. These four attackers have proven their offensive powers in seasons past, but Wayne also acknowledges their strong presence on the defensive end.
Additionally, Wayne will look to sophomores Erin Betsch and Danielle Ruggieri and freshmen Liz Wall and Jenna Mugele to spend some quality time in the midfield. With a total of eight midfielders, the fast-break offense that Wayne loves will be a central component of the Wildcat attack.
ATTACK
“We have a strong attacking unit,” Wayne says, “because each player is very unique and will play a different yet important role.”
Veteran senior Callie Seymour will lead the offensive unit from behind the cage with freshman Anna Smith, both of whom have great crease dodging abilities.
Crawford and Cook share great field vision and will look to capitalize on this trait to once again put up big numbers for the 'Cats.
Another senior – freshman combo for this spring will be Horton and Keitel. Their ability to attack off the catch will assuredly put the ball in the back of the net.
The attacking unit will be rounded out by freshman Jenna Mugele's crafty off ball work, junior Emily Rahill's consistency and senior Heather Frohman's field vision.
“I think that we have more of a one-on-one team,” Wayne says, “and that's something that's hard to create. We will look, though, to improve our feeding inside in order to add depth to our offense.”
DEFENSE
The success of the 2008 season was highly dependent on the performance of the Wildcat defense, which returns six members from last year's squad.
“We have a lot of strong defenders,” Wayne says, “and right now we're really focusing on the word 'unit' because we need to be a defensive unit in order to succeed.”
Senior captain Lindsey will play the vocal leadership role on the defensive end of the field. Lindsey will be joined by senior Claire O'Shea and sophomores Erin Betsch, Lily Graham, Lauren Van Husen, and Stella Davis.
O'Shea has been a proven leader over the past three years and despite missing the fall season, she made her presence felt in the opening weeks of preseason. Betsch is one of the team's strongest one-on-one defenders and Graham has improved tremendously over the past year into one of the most technical defenders.
The defense will be bolstered by the hard play of newcomer Laura Renaud and midfielders Ruggieri and Liz Wall, both of whom have great defensive instincts from previous experience on attack.
The final layer of the defense is junior goaltender Michelle Pav. After gaining much experience during her first two seasons as a 'Cat. Wayne cites Pav's ability to step to the ball as her biggest strength and looks forward to her dominant presence between the pipes this spring.
SCHEDULE
The Wildcats open the season with eight home contests in 2009 all played on Smith Field at Richardson Stadium.
Starting with Division II National Championship runner-up C.W. Post on Feb. 16 and ending with home games against Stanford and Duke, Wayne is excited to see the progress the squad makes over the course of the season.
The Wildcats finished off the 2008 campaign with a huge 22-4 win over Howard at home. Of its 17 opponents this year, Davidson faces five of them who were on the schedule from a year ago.
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