Lacrosse kicks off its inaugural season

SOPHIE SHELTON

Women’s Lacrosse is the newest addition to the Salem College athletics program. Consisting of 26 team members, the Lacrosse season kicked off in a game against St. Andrews University with a loss of 18-5 on Feb. 16.

Salem Lacrosse made history on March 7 with a eight to seven victory in a close game against Sweet Briar College. Goals in the game were scored by Collette Vladimery, Cassidy Matlock, Isabella Srikhirisawan and Logan Bowling with twelve saves by goalie, Hannah Ostlund.

Ostlund, a sophomore double majoring in Nonprofit Management and Religion, began Lacrosse in her freshman year of high school. When asked about the teams past experience in Lacrosse Ostlund shared, “About half of our team has played lacrosse before at some point in their lives or have been playing for quite some time. The other half of the team has either played a (different) sport before…or is brand new to the world of athletics.”

While the Lacrosse program is still new, and the team is still developing their abilities and technique, Ostlund shares that the team is “super excited and can’t wait to do it (win) again in the future!”

Ostlund believes that, “As a team, we have definitely improved a lot since we started our inaugural season at the end of January. The team has grown in our skill set, our unity and as peers off the field. I couldn’t imagine the first lacrosse team at Salem being any different!”

Lacrosse is currently coached by Merridith Cho. Ostlund shares that she “has done an amazing job with creating and nurturing this team to be what it is today. Without her and the help of the Athletic Department, our team wouldn’t even exist.”

For those unfamiliar with the game, the team must use a lacrosse stick to catch, cradle and pass a solid rubber lacrosse ball in an effort to score a goal by shooting it into the other team’s net. Each goal is worth one point and the game lasts for sixty minutes with ninety seconds on the clock to take a shot. Each team has twelve players on the field, four attackers, three midfielders, four defenders and one goalie.

Salem College Lacrosse has home and away games scheduled up until April 8.