2024 Salem State Women's Lacrosse Preview
Jose Rodriguez '24, Staff Writer | Media & Communications
SALEM, Mass.- Salem State women's lacrosse is looking for a breakout year this upcoming season. Head coach Karen Atkinson '11 and captains, senior Carmen Lieberth (Naples, Fl.), grad student Jenna Wells (Revere, Mass.) and junior Savannah Scrodin (Bristol, Vt.) look to build on last season's playoff appearance.
Coach Atkinson talked about the key returners for 2024. "Honestly all of our returners are making an impact on our team. The experience gained each year continues to propel our program forward and provides guidance for our new players. Lieberth, Wells and Scrodin will be three major players this season. Not only am I impressed with their skill and dedication, but their leadership has grown tremendously over the years. Hannah Cochran (Marshfield, Mass.), Caitlyn O'Connell (Weymouth, Mass.), Samantha Rowe (Peabody, Mass.) and Jenna Thomas (Cumberland, R.I.) are all returning to our defensive/midfield unit. We have continued building on our team defense over the past couple seasons and the increased knowledge base, as well as the aggressiveness will make a huge difference for us this upcoming season. Meg Parthum (Marblehead, Mass.), Aislinn Bennett (Milford, Mass.), Laura Young (Leominster, Mass.) and Kaia Hollingsworth (Methuen, Mass.) are all returning offensive players. Hollingsworth exudes poise and brings so much experience to the table while playing. The growth of Angelina Follis (Saugus, Mass.) and Deb Jean (Malden, Mass.) over the past season hasn't gone unnoticed. I am excited to see how they will impact our play this season. Jessica Robert (North Reading, Mass.) brings experience from her hockey season as a leader and excels at making connections in the midfield. Catherine Lawrence (Guilford, Conn.) was injured during her hockey season so although we will not be able to see the impact she has on the field; we will be able to see her leadership qualities as she supports her team from the side. Her experience as an athlete over the years on various teams will help bridge any gaps we may have."
Coach Atkinson mentioned the upcoming freshmen class and how they going to make this team succeed day in and day out. "Each season we welcome a new group of players who will be the future of our program. The work that has been put in during the preseason has been noticed. As a coach, I am always excited to see how new players will find a groove and become successful as individuals, as well as part of our team. The transition from high school to college level lacrosse is a bit of a shock usually, but I am confident that these players will be able to ease into it."
The head coach talked about which games are going to be the biggest in-conference threats. "All of our conference games are going to be a threat. We have not been recognized for our accomplishments over the past couple seasons and the conference views us fairly low. We need to go into each game confident, while recognizing that none of our games will be easy. I think we have a lot to prove to ourselves this season, but I am excited for what is to come."
The trio of captains talked about the team expectation for this season. "Our expectations for this season are to continue to build off of the success that we had last season and as always, work to get better each day. We are lucky enough to have a lot of new players this season who add great potential to our team, so we hope to utilize them and have a winning season."
They mentioned the work they've done during the off-season to prepare for this upcoming season. "During the off-season we were able to prepare for the upcoming season by working on skills on a smaller scale. This has allowed us to make connections on the field and really understand how one another plays. At the beginning of the preseason we were missing most of our multi-sport athletes, so we have been excited to have them transition back into practice recently following the end of the winter sports seasons. Now that we have our full team back on the field, it has allowed us to build on what we worked on at the beginning of preseason to really help prepare us for our first game coming up."
Finally the girls talk about the team chemistry that they hope that it will carry on to the regular season. "During preseason we have worked on making connections on and off the field. We have a lot of new players and have been able to use our practice time to really get to know each others playing styles. We have been making connections with each other on both sides of the ball, and are hopeful to see how this continues onto the field on game day."
Women's lacrosse will begin the season on the road tomorrow afternoon March 2nd at noon when they will take on Nichols. The Vikings home opener is this upcoming Tuesday March 5th when they will take on Lasell at Alumni Field. Game time is scheduled at 7:00 p.m.