MICHELLE HALE
Assistant Sports Editor
The Fredonia women’s lacrosse team has set even higher goals this season from past years — win the SUNYAC title.
If they are able to do this, it will be the first time in the program’s history. Within the past three years, the Blue Devils have received two at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, but have yet to receive a bid due to a SUNYAC title.
The lacrosse team has had lots of success within the past years, to say the least. They have defeated top ranked teams when they were expected to lose.
In the 2014 season, the Blue Devils defeated top ranked teams such as St. John Fisher and Oneonta. They went 5-3 in SUNYAC conference play, and 12-7 overall.
The biggest question is: will they be the same team with the loss of two of their strongest defenders? Mary Bruton and Chelsea Maderer were two of the Blue Devils’ key players on the defensive end, and now that they have graduated, Fredonia will need to find replacements.
“Our defense is young this year — we return three juniors, one sophomore and have three newcomers to that end, plus a freshman goalie,” said head coach Amy Simon. “We’re young, but they’re definitely starting to gel together and play as one unit.”
Preseason started at the beginning of this Spring semester, and Fredonia has had five and a half long weeks of practice before their first upcoming home game. Due to weather conditions, they have yet to set foot on their home field to practice.
“If we’re not able to practice on our turf field, it may be a slight disadvantage, but we are still confident with our skill set and believe that we can create success with the talent our team has,” said junior defender Jessica Tuttle.
The long preseason may just be what they need to work out all the kinks in their game. In practice, the Blue Devils have been spending extra time breaking down each aspect and attempting to perfect their technical skills.
“Even though we may have lost two great defenders, our offense is basically the same and I think that will be our strongest point,” said senior midfielder Katie Kleine.
Kleine was on the All-SUNYAC First Team and IWLCA Empire Region First Team. She led the offense as a midfielder with 29 assists and 25 goals.
Along with Kleine, senior Marissa Cussins will be expected to lead the offense, yet again. She scored 58 goals with 11 assists in the 2014 season. Senior attack Katie Glagolev is another stand-out, as well, with 33 goals scored last season.
“I’m expecting a lot from our senior class this year, and I think their experience will help them do that,” said Simon.
Since the four seniors — Kleine, Cussins, Glagolev and graduate Shelby Depew — have been a part of the program, they have had nothing but winning seasons. They were able to experience the NCAA tournament twice, and they know exactly what it takes to be successful.
“Preseason is going really well, but we are more than excited to step onto the field to show off our talents and achieve the goals we’ve set this season,” said Tuttle. “We want to make a name for ourselves, and to do that, we need to start this season off with a win.”
The Blue Devils begin their season with a home game Feb. 28 against Wooster on the turf field at University Stadium at 2 p.m.