Women’s lacrosse team looking to take 2015 by storm

Kean University’s women’s lacrosse team

By Ryan Norton

On March 4, the women’s lacrosse team of Kean University will begin their season by visiting the Manhattanville College Valiants in Purchase, NY.

This season marks the third under head coach Jordan Trautman. In her first season as head coach in 2013, Trautman and her Cougars found great success, tallying an impressive 13-6 record, marking the first winning season for the women’s lacrosse team since 2008.

The 2014 season got off to a great start, beginning with a perfect 4-0 record, before finishing the season at 9-9. Despite the .500 record, the Cougars dominated the statistics, outscoring their opponents 210-190 for the season, averaging 11.67 goals per game to their opponents 10.56 goals per game, and averaging nearly six shots more a game than the opposition.

Since the end of the 2014 season, the team has gone under significant changes, as more than half of the team is not returning for this season. Only nine members of last years campaign are returning in 2015. Eleven freshmen join the team for this season.

Despite a team that is mostly comprised of first year players, Coach Trautman is confident they will adapt and conform quickly to the system of play.

“The freshman are my first recruiting class, so it’s fun for me,” Trautman said. “It’s the kids I worked through the recruiting process with, and I brought in, and made sure they are ready to be Kean Cougars. This season will be full of surprises because we have so many new faces.”

Coach Trautman comes from an extensive lacrosse background herself, having played for four years at Georgetown University. There, she was a team captain, and had All-American Honors. Most recently, she tried out this past summer for the U.S Women’s National Team, and made it all the way to the final round of the tryouts.

While the team is going into this season with almost a completely new and unknown identity, Trautman believes this season will be one filled with good and fun surprises.

“We have an incredible group of kids, who are hard working, dedicated and driven,” Trautman said. “We have a lot of talent on our team. Although our roster is relatively small, we are very deep in terms of players. This is the deepest our roster has been for as long as I’ve been here.”

The Cougars will play six home games this season, the first being on March 7 against Arcadia University. Other home games include: March 21 vs. Widener University, March 26 vs. The Sage Colleges, April 7 vs. Montclair, April 18 vs. Rutgers-Camden, and April 25 vs. The College of New Jersey.

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