Women’s lacrosse (0-1, 0-0 NESCAC) lost 10-8 in a snowy season opener against the St. John Fisher Cardinals (3-0). After facing a five-goal third period deficit, the Ephs mounted a late comeback effort, but they ultimately fell short in front of their home fans at Farley-Lamb Field.
The Ephs, who ended the 2024 season on a six-game losing streak, entered 2025 on a mission for redemption. “Nobody wanted to feel like [how it felt at the end of last season] again,” co-captain and 2023 All-American Claudia Russell ’25 said. “This year, we just were really intense with how we prepared and the standards that we set.”
The team’s preparation began as the calendar turned to 2025, according to Anna Miller ’26. “In January, we set our expectations very high and set a standard of holding each other accountable,” she said.
The team’s official preseason got underway in February with six practices and two team lifts each week. “Our coaches have emphasized that every day matters,” co-captain Grace Collier ’25 said. “Not a mentality of trying to get through the preseason, but enjoying every day of it.”
Russell noted that the recent hiring of Reegan Vorgang, a new offensive coordinator, has also helped push the team forward. “She graduated [from SUNY Geneseo] last year, and she has been such an amazing addition,” Russell said. “She’s been driving our offense and improving [team] chemistry.”
Apart from a preseason scrimmage against RPI (3-0), the matchup with St. John Fisher was the team’s first opportunity to put its preparation to work. “We were going at it full steam ahead, just super excited and grateful that we got an opportunity to play a game, even before NESCAC play starts,” Miller said.
“It’s like when you’ve been studying for a test for so long and you’re like, ‘I just need to take it,’” Russell said. “It’s a culmination of itching to play another team because we’ve been so competitive intra-squad.”
The game started off well for the Ephs, as Russell drew an early foul and converted her free-position shot to give the Ephs a 1-0 lead. However, the team’s mid-game offensive lull turned a 3-3 deadlock after the first period into a deficit that reached 9-4 in the third period.
“Offensively, we didn’t convert very much,” Collier said. “We got shots off, but they either weren’t super high quality or we didn’t finish on them all the time.” The game statistics supported this conclusion, as the Ephs took more shots than the Cardinals despite losing 10-8. At halftime, St. John Fisher led 6-4, despite the teams having taken ten shots apiece.
Nerves also played a role in the Ephs’ offensive struggles, according to Russell. “Because we were so nervous, we were playing a little bit [more] timidly [than in practices],” she said.
Toward the end of the third period, the Ephs found a spark: Katy McCullough ’26 scored on a free-position attempt with just over a minute left in the quarter. Then, the Ephs forced a Cardinals turnover and had a moment of brilliance in transition, with Franny Donohue ’25 assisting Sydney Puntus ’27 to reduce the margin to 9-6 with only four seconds left in the quarter.
The Ephs’ momentum continued into the fourth quarter. Even though the Cardinals scored first to extend their lead to 10-6, two goals — from Miller and Puntus — shrunk the Ephs’ deficit to only two goals as the game entered its final five minutes.
A sense of urgency helped produce this comeback, according to Miller. “We had a time-out [in the third quarter] and our coach, Alice [Lee], said, ‘This is not what we should be expecting of ourselves,’” Miller said. “We kind of just made a decision at that moment that it was time to pick it up, to stop playing timid and nervous.”
Tactical adjustments also fueled the team’s surge. “We switched into a higher-pressure defense, so that meant we were calling a lot more of the shots,” Russell said. “Once we scored that first goal … the momentum shift happened, and we were able to build on that.”
Unfortunately for the Ephs, their resurgence was stifled by the Cardinals’ strong defense in the final five minutes, with neither team scoring as St. John Fisher held onto its lead for a 10-8 win.
At the game’s end, Russell led the team with three points, while Puntus tallied two goals, Collier had a goal and an assist, and co-captain Caroline Pratt ’25 made nine saves.
Weather was another factor in Saturday’s defeat. What had been a sunny, mild day prior to gametime descended into steady snowfall throughout the contest. None of the Ephs, however, blamed the snow for their loss. “Something our coach says is there’s no such thing as bad weather,” Collier said. “Our team plays in conditions like that throughout January [and] February, so we’ve seen it before.”
The team was understandably disappointed with its loss, but was excited to move forward. “We learned a lot from [the loss], and it’s just fueling the fire for what we can build on this week,” Collier said.
“What happened yesterday was on us,” Miller said. “We need to use this to learn and move forward and not walk away from a game feeling that way again.”
Up next for the team is an in-conference matchup on the road against the Bates Bobcats (2-1, 1-0 NESCAC) on March 8. “I’m excited to take all the motivation from Saturday’s game,” Russell said. “I think people are going to be … even more hungry.”
Russell has her sights set on success and is committed to preventing losses like Saturday’s from happening in the future. “I want my teammates to feel like their hard work is going to pay off,” she said. “I want our team to know what it feels like to celebrate huge victories and comebacks. I love winning, but I hate losing way more.”
