Women’s lacrosse looks to start season out strong

The women’s lacrosse team is preparing themselves for the upcoming season with high hopes for success.

The players have started practicing this past week withtheir strength and conditioning coaches attending their morning practices to get them back into shape. “It’s not easy,” said Sarah Means, senior psychology major and women’s lacrosse captain with the position of attack on the team. “But it’s well worth it in the end.” The team is also preparing for their annual trip to Florida where they practice twice a day. During this time, they get to know each other on and off the field, improve on their weak points and get used to chemistry with players on the field again.

The team is returning stronger than ever. Head Coach Jackie Neary said, “We have 10 seniors which makes this a unique group and I am hopeful that they can lead this team to reach their full potential.” Means agreed and thinks that having 10 seniors returning is going to keep up the team’s confidence.

Tori Canelli and Megan Decker are two senior returning defenders to keep an eye on. Melissa Scanzano, who plays midfield, will be returning as well and is the team’s most recent player of the year. “She is always scoring most of our teams goals and is one of our top players every season,” Means said.

There were two injuries last year, including Sarah Carzo’s broken collar bone which kept her from playing offense. Lacie Doubet, senior marketing major and team captain with the position of attacking midfielder, said “luckily our two players from last year who got hurt will be healthy and ready to play for this upcoming season.”

As for incoming players, Doubet knew two of the freshmen girls before they came to Cabrini and had the chance to meet the other freshmen during the off season. “They seem like they are going to fit in great with our team,” Doubet said.

The women’s first game will be held in Santa Barbara, California on Feb. 21, at 2 p.m. against Colorado College.

“Colorado has traveled to us on two previous occasions so we look forward to playing them on the road,” Neary said. Means thinks that they’re a good team who play very hard and also mentioned that they are very excited to see what California is all about. This will be the team’s first trip to California and they look forward to playing hard against Colorado again this season.