The Colorado College women's lacrosse season kicks off this weekend in Claremont, California, in a pair of games against No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer on Friday and Rhodes College on Saturday.
CC enters the 2024 season with high aspirations and goals after joining a new conference and receiving votes in the national polls.
A Look Back
In 2023, the Tigers finished the season 7-10 after losing their last two games to No. 18 Pomona-Pitzer. CC starts the year playing the Sagehens again this season, who are ranked No. 12 in the preseason polls.
CC graduated seven seniors, but head coach
Susan Stuart returns six of last season's top ten leading scorers.
The 7-10 finish for the Tigers was their first losing season since 2013 and only the fourth in the nearly 30 years of the program's existence.
A New Landscape
The Tigers are an affiliate member of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which officially added women's lacrosse as a conference-sponsored sport starting this season.
CC joins Southwestern University as the other affiliate school to compete against full-time conference members University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse, UW-River Falls, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Stout.
The six-game conference schedule for each team begins on April 3. The top four teams in the standings will secure a spot in the WIAC Tournament that will be conducted May 3-4 at the highest Wisconsin seed.
CC will play their first WIAC matchup on April 5th against UW Eau Claire at Washburn Field.
Preseason Accolades
The 2024 ILWomen/IWLCA Division III Preseason Polls came out with the Tigers receiving votes. CC has not been in that spot since March 20, 2023.
Senior
Kendall Havill is fresh off an All-American season and leading the Tigers in goals in 2023; Havill was named a USA Lacrosse Preseason All-American Third Team selection. The Bainbridge, WA native led the Tigers with 59 goals, 16 assists and 75 points in 2023. The 59 goals are the third most in program history in a single season.
Havill missed the first two seasons of her collegiate career due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a season-ending injury the year prior. In her first year of collegiate lacrosse, she is already amongst the best players in the country.
Strong And Steady Offense
The Tigers return six of their top 10 leading scorers from 2023. Players like
Tobin Lonergan, Courtney Shay and
Grace Bean are poised for big seasons. Lonergan finished second on the team last season with 28 goals and 39 points. She was third on the team with 11 assists.
Shay played in all 17 games and scored eight goals while dishing out three assists. Bean played in only 10 contests but racked up four goals and two assists. Shay is one of five seniors, while Bean is one of six sophomores who look to establish a young core for the next few years.
At the Helm
"Stuey" Stuart has been the head coach of the Tigers since the inaugural 1995 season. Since then. Stuey has led the Tigers to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, including four straight appearances from 2016-19 and the historic national semifinal run in 2005 when CC went 12-2.
Scouting The Opponents
No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer will host the Tigers and Rhodes College to open up the season in Claremont, CA. The Sagehens finished 2023 with a 21-2 record and made it to the NCAA Elite Eight before losing to Franklin & Marshall.
The Sagehens were one of two teams to receive a first-place vote in the IWLCA Preseason Polls alongside undefeated national championship Middlebury. The Tigers have a 4-5 record against the Sagehens.
Rhodes College finished 15-6 in 2023 and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to William Smith College. The Lynx won the Southern Athletic Association Tournament for the eighth straight season to receive the automatic bid to the big dance.
The Lynx kicked off their season against Division II foe Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, but were downed 13-8.
CC will take on Pomona-Pitzer on Friday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m. MT and then face Rhodes on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 12:30 p.m. MT.
