Author: Laura Bertocci
Women’s lacrosse is mobilizing for its exciting first season as a varsity team. New Head Coach Michelle Uhlfelder is working toward transforming the team into a force to be reckoned with in the varsity world. “Our goal this year is to get the ship sailing,” said Uhlfelder. “Sail the ship, compete hard, play at a game-like pace each day.”
The lacrosse team had its first opportunity to test its skills on Sunday, Jan. 31, during a scrimmage against UCLA’s club team. Although the team worked hard, UCLA’s club sport experience won out in the end. “We played the best we could have at this point in the season, and we still have a few weeks to improve before the conference games start,” attacker Kiran Rishi (first-year) said. “We have a good sense now of what our strong points are and what we need to work on . . . It was a good learning experience for us as a team.”
Uhlfelder was very proud of the team’s first competitive game and is sure the team will use the scrimmage as an opportunity to learn how to take the field and make adjustments during play. “[It was] the first time we played together this year, the first time we’ve all been on the same sideline in the same uniform,” she said. “The scrimmage helped us clarify our goals and strategy, focus practice and play at a faster pace.”
Although the team has held optional practices since the beginning of the school year, official preseason began approximately two weeks ago. The preseason, a five-week period before the official season begins, is invaluable time for the team to prepare. “We are lucky to have it,” said Uhlfelder. “At the same time, I think everyone is getting antsy to get playing and be in competition mode.”
Until now, the women’s lacrosse team has been a club team, competing against other club teams with a fairly lax schedule, averaging about one practice per week. Uhlfelder has helped refocus the program to reflect the demands of a varsity team by creating a brand new daily practice schedule, complete with weight lifting, scrimmages and dynamic workouts.
“Michele understands the balance of building a program within a rigorous academic environment,” Director of Athletics Jaime Hoffman said in an e-mail interview. “[Uhlfelder] is anxious to dive in to tackling those two objectives while becoming familiar with Oxy’s small liberal arts campus community.”
The stringent schedule has certainly helped the team turn a new corner. Uhlefelder marveled at how far her team has come. “The players are adjusting to both improving their skills and knowledge of the game while also figuring out their roles on this year’s team,” she said. “They each have come very far compared to our first fall practice. Inside of a week, they didn’t even look like the same players. It’s fairly amazing.”
Changing to varsity was not only an asset to the team, but also to the college. Having an intercollegiate sport available to women satisfies the school’s need for more female athletics. “Also, I think women lacrosse players now . . . will bring a strong collegiate feel to campus and add to the Occidental community in many ways,” says Uhlfelder. Oxy’s lacrosse program enlarges the SCIAC Conference to five teams, getting the Conference that much closer to earning a bid in the NCAA tournament.
The team will play its first conference game against University of Redlands on Feb. 24. The team’s first home game is on Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. against Whittier College.
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