Lacrosse gearing up for historic inaugural season
The MCLA Women's Lacrosse team is busy preparing for their season opener on March 17th, which will be the first game in program history.
2015 MCLA Women's Lacrosse Schedule
2015 MCLA Women's Lacrosse Roster
North Adams, MA- The Women's Lacrosse program at MCLA has been in the beginning stages for the past two years. Coming this March, it will finally come to fruition. For the first time in school history, MCLA will begin its varsity lacrosse program. The ball will officially drop for the program on March 17th when the Trailblazers battle Mitchell College.
The program is being led into varsity play by head coach Maria Bartini. Bartini is excited about the upcoming season as the program has been gearing up for this moment. "There is a lot of excitement from my players and we are counting down the days to our season opener on the 17th," the coach stated. "We've been waiting for this moment for the better part of two years," the coach continued.
MCLA will play a 13 game slate this season including a full MASCAC schedule. The program was selected to finish 7th in the conference preseason poll. The home opener is scheduled for March 24th against Sage.
The Trailblazers will suit up a roster of 18 women in 2015 led by captains Kaleigh Anderson, Kate Brown, and Rebecca Pike. Anderson will be asked to anchor the defense, while Brown and Pike will patrol the midfield. Natalie Caney will also provide a boost in the midfield as an attacker. The fleet footed sophomore will be counted on to create opportunities for the Trailblazers. All three midfielders will be instrumental in starting attacks and slowing down the opponent's transition game.
Anderson will spearhead the defensive alignment along with Gabby Prata and Leah Sullivan. The trio will be in front of goal keeper Alex David.
Other Trailblazers looking to make an immediate impact in 2015 are Mackenzie Cutler, Rachel Green, Erin McNulty, Tanelle Ciempa, and Erin Ferris. Cutler and Green will be key cogs in facilitating the offense, while McNulty, Ciempa, and Ferris will all see time on both offense and defense. Their versatility will be important in the long run for MCLA.
Any time you have a program starting from scratch expectations can sometimes be put on hold. For MCLA, the goal is simple. They want to surprise teams in the conference. As Coach Bartini stated, "We expect to be competitive in every game and are working towards a MASCAC playoff spot by the end of the season." The Trailblazers won't have to wait long to impact the conference as they host Massachusetts Maritime Academy on March 28th in the MASCAC opener for both clubs.
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