After a 4-13 season as an Independent last year, the women’s lacrosse team will start their 2013 campaign this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Athletics Complex against Howard.
The team was picked third out of eight teams in the inaugural Big South preseason poll in late December, behind defending National Lacrosse Conference champions High Point and Davidson, who is an associate Big South member in women’s lacrosse. Trailing Longwood were Winthrop, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian and Campbell.
At the time, first-year head coach Elaine Jones said, “It's a preseason poll and what will matter most is where we finish, not where we were predicted to finish. There's so much learning to be done and so many lacrosse games to be played before the end of the season. Ultimately, our goal is to end up at the top of the league standings.”
Jones comes to Longwood from UC Davis, where she went 97-90 during 12 years at the helm. Joining her in Farmville is Todd Faxon, who previously spent six years at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., it was announced Thursday.
Among several notable returners, LU returns 2012’s leading goalscorer in senior Jamie Brentlinger, who had 35 goals and four assists in 17 games. Junior Lauren Prasnicki had a team- high 20 assists in 17 appearances. Mollie Zimmerman started 16 of 17 games in cage last year, recording a .384 save percentage with a 17.53 goals against average (GAA). One loss that may loom large for the Lancers is Hannah Riggs, who led the team with 61 ground balls in 2012 before graduating. Riggs also had a team-high 69 draw controls.
Last year’s freshmen-laden team has matured and will play their first- ever Big South game on the road at Campbell on Feb. 26. The first home conference game on the slate is on March 13 against Winthrop. The Lancers travel to Virginia Tech on April 10 and host Liberty for Senior Day on April 20.
Jones was unavailable for comment on this story, and all quotes come from LongwoodLancers.com.
