Lacrosse sets up solid foundation

Lacrosse is a popular sport on the East Coast, and over the past few years, it has been slowly making its way westward. Though still a West Coast rarity, it is by no means exceptionally hard to find. Many Californian high schools have lacrosse teams, for both boys and girls. Players from these teams often look for new ones to join once they start college, regardless of where in the country they end up. 

Women’s lacrosse is a new sport at Lewis & Clark this year. Currently, there is no men’s team at LC, but the women’s team has been thriving. Though the team has yet to win a game, they have achieved tremendous victories off the field. 

There are many struggles that come with creating a new sports team, especially a team made up of mostly first years. Teams require trust in one another, regardless of what sport they are playing, and it is hard to build trust with people you have only just met, especially without an existing team culture. Despite this, the women’s team has done an excellent job of building relationships and comradery. 

“We’ve definitely won some in just coming off the field and feeling good about ourselves and happy about how we played,” said Sage Swegle ’27.

A testament to the future of the women’s lacrosse team, several of the games they have lost have come down to only a single point. At this stage, the lacrosse team has been playing against well-established rival schools, which is proof of the potential the LC team has. 

“What makes our team so special is, even though we’ve only been playing together for five months, we have been able to build chemistry. We’ve had great teamwork against teams that have been playing together for three to four years,” said Lauren Elliott ’27. 

By hearing them talk about each other or by watching any of their games, it is clear that the women’s lacrosse team works well together

“We lost a couple of players due to concussions or ankle injuries, and a few weeks ago one of our players was injured and is out for the rest of the season,” said Swegle.

Despite this, the team has been able to continue building trust and relationships with each other, laying a strong foundation for the future of lacrosse at LC. 

“Another goal that we have is winning a Northwest Conference Championship. We have a really strong recruiting class coming in over the next few years, so I think it is really possible that we can achieve that,” said Elliott. 

With more players joining LC lacrosse in the coming years, the team is looking forward to welcoming the newcomers to their community.