The UW-Eau Claire women’s lacrosse team kicked off their 2022 regular season. This new season is planned to go up until April 16 and started this past Saturday.

According to this season’s schedule, the Blugolds plan to have 17 more games this regular season after their recent match versus Hamline University. However, they have had a cancellation for a game against Clarke University on March 2.

Nina Pratt, a fourth-year attacker for the team, said that this team has the potential to be the best so far.

“We have all been working hard, and I think that it’s possible that we go even further than we did last year in terms of winning games and maybe making it to nationals,” she said.

The team is returning after an overall standing of 4-4 in their last season. According to the previous season’s schedule, the Blugolds had four games canceled last year and one postponed due to COVID-19. 

Sheridan Larson, a fourth-year attacker, said that this upcoming season is interesting as it is only their second season as a D III team. 

“And I just think it goes to show that last season we did really good, and this season, with the girls we have, I think we have a very good outlook,” she said.

The Blugolds started this new season with a win under their belt. The women’s lacrosse team faced off against Hamline University in a night game at the Augsburg Dome in Minneapolis, Minn.

According to the blugolds.com, the women’s lacrosse team earned three points in the first quarter, while Hamline earned two points.

In the second quarter, both teams earned two points. In the third quarter, Hamline earned three points and the Blugolds earned four. After this, the final quarter commenced with a 9-7 score and the Blugolds leading. 

The final quarter showed two points for Hamline and three for the Blugolds. The UW-Eau Claire women’s lacrosse team won their first game of the season with a final score of 12-9.

Aubrianne Neubert, the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team, said she was excited to see the team going into this new season and this last game means a lot to the future of the team.

“Everybody started thinking that we don’t have to wait 10 years to be a good team,” she said.

The next matches for the Blugolds are away games on March 5 and 6 versus Illinois Tech.

Besides adapting to being promoted from a club sport, this season introduces several new players to the team. According to the women’s lacrosse roster, 14 of their players are first-years.

These first-years fill a range of positions from attackers, defense, midfield and even the goalie for the team. Becky Goetsch, a first-year midfield player, said that the team has become more diverse and has a lot of new assets.

“We know how to use our strengths to our advantage and work together rather than just working separately,” she said.

Fans can follow the women’s lacrosse team on their Twitter and on their athletics page to keep up with them during the season.

Fisher can be reached at [email protected].