Women’s lacrosse begins second season with win

The beginning of a season starts with a clean slate. No games, no crowds. No goals, no assists. No wins, no losses.

Every team starts over at the beginning of a new season, no matter what happened during last season. The Lady Flames lacrosse team knows what it feels like to have a disappointing season, but they realized that a new season means new beginnings. And for the Lady Flames, new beginnings means winning.

The Lady Flames opened their second season at home March 1 against St. Francis (Pa.). In front of a rowdy crowd, filled with posters and vuvuzela-blowing fans, the Lady Flames played an explosive game, winning a nail-biting 11-10 match.

“This year, having nine home games and having two of them being our first two games of our season, is amazing,” head coach Regan Denham said. “I know the girls were so excited at practice (Monday). We practiced in the rain and even with that they were psyched to have the first home game, and to come away with a win is just unbelievable.”

The Lady Flames had a busy first half, with nine goals scored by five different players. Several of the new freshman showed that they were out to win. Freshman Nina Dunay scored four goals for the Lady Flames and added two assists. Freshman Karis Walborn added two goals and freshman Jen Moyer also found the net once for the Lady Flames.

With four goals by St. Francis, the second half started out quiet for the Lady Flames until junior captain Kristen Crowley put one on the board at the 12:53 mark. With St. Francis adding just one more goal to tie the game at 10 a piece, the Lady Flames shut down the Lady Red Flash offense. Dunay found the net with the winning goal — her fifth goal of the game.

With opening the season at home and coming off a tough first season, the win meant quite a bit for the Lady Flames.

“(My goals for the team) are to win more games than last year,” junior captain Chloe McIntosh said. “We’re tied right now with our record from last year, so it’s looking pretty good.”

Lady Flames also faced a tough Monmount team on a rainy Sunday evening in Williams Stadium. The Lady Flames showed promise with a high scoring game, but could not get the win with a final score of 15-11.

Dunay had another record-setting day with six goals scored, the most by a Lady Flame in program history. Walborn scored three for the Lady Flames, and Crowley netted two.

The Lady Flames have been preparing all year for this important second season. Finishing last in the conference last season, Denham and her team knew they had work to do in order to compete.

“We’re really looking to get some wins, after our tough season last year, and to do really well in conference,” Denham said.

The Lady Flames have been working hard personally and as a team to stay focused and to keep improving.

“A lot of (preparing for the home opener) was a complete team effort,” Crowley said. “(We were) pushing each other hard in practice.”

With several new freshman and transfer students, the Lady Flames also had to learn how to mesh well as a team.

“I’ve already gained a lot of friendships with the incoming freshmen and transfers,” Crowley said. “They’ve been pushing me personally as a player and as a captain.”

The overarching goal for the team, however, is not to win. Crowley stressed that the Lady Flames also want to be a witness as they play their sport.

“One of our goals is to show God through our playing, just to be very sportsmanlike to show who we’re playing for,” Crowley said.

The Lady Flames go on the road with a 1-1 record to Siena College in New York March 12.