By Alana Pelosi
The women’s lacrosse team went down to Virginia this past weekend with the possibility of getting the top seed for the conference tournament and came home out of tournament contention. For any team, two losses cannot be more hurtful than that. And while the Pride misses a trip to the CAA tournament for the second straight season, there is reason for the teammates to hold their heads up.
The bus ride back from Williamsburg, VA isn’t a short one to begin with, but it certainly felt longer for the Pride after a 19-13 lost to William & Mary. For the first time in her career at Hofstra, Abby Morgan knew her team was out of the playoffs with a game to play.
Coach Morgan said of missing the tournament, “It’s the same situation as last year but it doesn’t feel the same.”
That’s because there was a huge growth from last year. While both teams failed to make the tournament, the comparison may end there. The team underwent huge changes from last year and it had nothing to do with the lineup. For one, last year they finished 7-9 and being that they are currently 9-6, they are guaranteed a winning record. That is an accomplishment in itself. Some may say records mean little, but no one can down play the growth in maturity the team showed on the field this year.
Another thing is that they do not have to go out on a losing note. With a game against conference rival Drexel scheduled for Saturday, the team has a chance to make a little noise. For the senior class, it’s even more important.
“[The seniors] can’t wait for [Saturday] to be here so they can show other teams, their coaches and their families are as good as they really are,” said Morgan.
The senior class deserves that opportunity. The presence they carried was visible from the stands and they led the team as seniors should. “This senior group has definitely made an impact on the underclassmen,” said Morgan, “we’ve heard a lot more from the underclassmen willing to support the seniors.”
While last year the team could play well one game and be a nervous wreck the next, this year they left all their issues at the door and came to play. While they were clearly beaten by Old Dominion Friday followed by William & Mary on Sunday, they played very well this season and those losses weren’t so much about talent or nerves, but bad games. Teams having bad games happen a lot. Usually, they can get away with that, but sometimes it comes at the cost of a tournament seat. “They knew the games were so uncharacteristic of the way we play,” said Morgan, “It was not Hofstra ball and there are a million different reasons like being on the road or feeling the pressure that got to them.”
No matter what the outcome is on Saturday, Lauren Eberling, Alysse Ruszowski, Lauren Whitcomb, Jacquelyn Hetzel, Cat Thoreson and Jen Bach should be proud of how their season went. Their teams, families and coaches should be proud as well. Not many teams can turn things around in as little as a year, but they did and in doing so, laid the groundwork for an even better team next year.