March 5, 2002
Lacrosse Launches Attack on A-10
Women’s Lacrosse Team Charges Headlong into Atlantic
10 Competition in Inaugural Season as Varsity Sport
By Brian
Krause
When these ladies go on the attack, they charge in cutting and shooting.
No, GW doesn’t have a
new group of mercenaries.
These women warriors do combat
on the same kind of battlefield Native Americans did as far back as
the 15th century — the lacrosse field.
Known as “The Little Brother
of War,” lacrosse games once were a way for tribes to settle disputes
as well as to keep their warriors in shape. Games could have as many
as 100 to 1,000 players and would often last days, or until the last
man was standing.
The modern version of this
traditional tribal game has made its way here with the introduction
of GW’s first NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse team.
Women’s lacrosse is a
combination of football, hockey, and basketball played by 12 athletes.
There are five offensive players, know as the “attack,” six
defenders, and one goalie.
Players rely on speed, stamina,
coordination, and agility to hurl a 5-ounce rubber ball into their opponent’s
net. The only catch — they must drive down the 70-yard field past
a defiant wall of defenders and a well-guarded goal using only a long
handled stick with a triangular net on the end.
“Lacrosse is fast-paced,
high-scoring, high skill, and pretty physical,” describes Head
Coach Jennifer Morris, who joined the team last year for its final season
as a club sport.
A former All-American lacrosse
player for Ithaca College, Morris most recently served as the assistant
women’s lacrosse coach for the University of Richmond for two years.
She also was the head coach of the Saint Mary’s College club team,
and the assistant commissioner of the Western Women’s Lacrosse
League.
No slouch herself, Assistant
Women’s Coach Chrissy Lombard was an All-American attack player
for Boston University, where she holds the records for goals and total
points scored in three seasons and was named the America East Conference
Rookie of the Year in 1998.
Using their years of experience
playing and coaching lacrosse, they will guide this rookie team past
the challenges of its first varsity season.
“We have a lot of talent
but we are such a young team,” says Morris. “Anything can
happen. We can step out on that field and do great things.”
Looking to end the season with at least a .500 record, Morris hopes
to continue to build on a winning season and to play more competitive
teams.
“We want more, but we
won’t be too greedy at first,” says Morris.
Women’s lacrosse is not as new to GW as one might think. A strong
club team has been battling on campus for more than three years before
going varsity.
Started by Nadia Kachwaha during
her freshman year, the senior from Amherst, MA. never imagined she would
make GW sports history. A player for nine years, she had given up hopes
of playing Division I lacrosse when she came to GW.
“When they first told
me, it was amazing,” Kachwaha says of the varsity-level advancement.
“Women’s lacrosse was always in the background. I didn’t
think it was ever going to happen.”
Now, one of the team captains,
she faces the challenge of bridging the gap between the older, more
experienced players and the new recruits.
“We come from two different places,” says Kachwaha. “Some
of us came here from the club team and some of us were recruited to
play lacrosse for GW.”
According to Senior Associate
Athletic Director Mary Jo Warner, successful club teams are often chosen
to become the next varsity teams. The addition of a women’s lacrosse
team was one of five sports approved by the Board of Trustees for NCAA
expansion, she explains.
Also added as part of the expansion
was women’s water polo three years ago, men’s and women’s
squash this year, and women’s softball is scheduled to reach the
big leagues next year.
“We are very excited to
have these new competitive opportunities for women’s athletics,”
Warner says.
Along with the new teams come
new and improved athletic facilities. The new Mount Vernon Athletic
Complex, which includes an artificial soccer/lacrosse field and a new
softball field, and the new squash courts at the Lerner Family Health
and Wellness Center, have become the homes of GW’s new extended
sports family.
Rebecca Valle, a freshman from
Ellicott City, MD, came to GW because of the opportunities the new lacrosse
team offered her.
“I looked at schools based
on their lacrosse teams,” says Valle. “GW was the best choice.
Other teams offered me the chance to be a walk-on; GW gave me the opportunity
to play.”
The Colonials continue their
first season on March 13 against Mount St. Mary’s at 3:30 pm at
the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex. The ladies are prepared to cut and
shoot their way to the top.
Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu
