By Stacy Troiano
Glance at the women’s lacrosse schedule, one might be surprised to see that five of the Pride’s first six games are against powerhouse opponents who are either nationally ranked or receiving votes for the IWLCA top 20.
The Pride sit at No. 19 themselves and have faced many tests early in the season against high-caliber programs like Denver, BU, Rutgers and Vanderbilt. While the overall record may be deceiving, Hofstra has battled in each game against the nation’s elite and came away with a strong win against perennial Ivy League power Cornell.
Former head coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe set the precedent in the past by always setting a competitive non-conference schedule early in the season for the Pride, and head coach Abby Morgan believes it’s the best thing for her team.
“Every game even from the very beginning you have to bring you’re ‘A’ game, and the tough non-conference games we’ve had so far have taught our girls that lesson,” Morgan said. “They know that when it comes to conference time, if you don’t bring that ‘A’ game, you’re going to lose.”
Some teams take the approach of easing into the season by playing teams that are a given blowout, but that may not be the way to prepare for conference and postseason play. Just ask Jim Calhoun and his UConn Huskies who started the season 11-0 only to finish 17-14, 12th in the Big East, and watching the NCAA tournament from their couches.
Year in and year out, the CAA is a competitive lacrosse conference. Conference superpower James Madison is currently ranked 5th in the country. Morgan knows that for the Pride to get that ever-elusive CAA championship, a tough non-conference schedule is a must.
“All of our conference teams are extremely competitive,” she said. “If we were playing teams early on that we’d blow out, I don’t think that when we got to conference time we’d be as competitive as we are.”
The Drexel Dragons are first up in CAA play for the Pride on April 1st, and the 2006 CAA championship rematch with James Madison is set for April 15th.
“Because we play such great programs from day one of the season, the girls are prepared for that when it comes conference time,” Morgan said. “There’s no room for error in our conference, if you’re not perfect, you’re getting beat.”