By Angela Young
Trinity Times Correspondent
Lacrosse has returned to Trinity Washington University in the 2023 season and the new players are eager to pinwheel their sticks and score toe jammer points after about a decade absence in the school’s sports lineup.
Though the Goucher Gophers easily defeated the Trinity Tigers lacrosse team 19 to 0 at its first 2023 game March 8 at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland, the Trinity players are motivated to forge ahead with the rest of the season.
“I am so proud of our Trinity Tigers,” said Christa Burgess, Trinity’s athletic director and new Tigers’ lacrosse coach, shortly after the first-game defeat. “They got out on that field and played extremely hard against a very skilled team all while facing some challenges throughout the game as a new team.”
Coach Burgess emphasized that the first year back for the sport is still generating a high level of excitement among the players and she believes the Trinity community will support and encourage the team as they continue to train and compete.
“It was just time to make its return,” she said about Trinity lacrosse. “We are overly excited to just have it back.”
With breakneck speed, the university held a lacrosse interest meeting Feb. 1, quickly followed by team tryouts and a rigorous practice schedule.
Trinity junior Mary Donaldson is thrilled to be playing lacrosse for the newly formed team.
Donaldson played lacrosse for her high school team and the nursing student was all in when she learned Trinity was going to relaunch this spring semester.
During a late February team practice, Donaldson’s jet-black mane flows behind with beads of sweat on her brow as she sprints coast to coast toward the goalie, cheered on with stern direction from Burgess.
Her enthusiasm for the sport was evident before the first practice, as she opened her own recruitment campaign to urge other Trinity students to join the lacrosse team.
While the training has been intense, Donaldson said the practice and game rosters do not impede on her academic schedule and told potential teammates the sport would enhance their college experience.
Lacrosse is an attention-grabbing sport with twelve players on the field in positions made up of the goalie, attackers, defenders, and midfielders.
On the collegiate level, the game lasts for 60 minutes, which consists of four 15-minute quarters with the objective to score goals against the other team while defending their own cage.
Though Trinity had a lacrosse team from the 1990s and well into the 21st century, many of the area high schools didn’t have teams and over time it became harder to recruit players and coaches, Trinity President Patricia McGuire told the Trinity Times.
“At some point, the athletic director decided to move away from lacrosse and bring softball to Trinity,” McGuire said. “We had softball for a number of years in the spring, but the amount of time required for softball is considerable, and it eventually became hard to keep a team together for the length of the games and the season. Since lacrosse has grown in popularity in the Washington region, and the amount of time required for games is a lot shorter than softball – and because we have a beautiful field that is great for lacrosse – we decided to return to lacrosse as our spring sport.”
Burgess also had a vested interest in bringing lacrosse back to Trinity.
She was a Trinity Tiger lacrosse player in 2012, specializing as both a mid-fielder and a defender during her college student days.
In reintroducing the team, however, Burgess has stressed prospective players don’t have to be star athletes and that all levels of athleticism are embraced.
Like with all Trinity sports teams, there are certain requirements sought out by the coaches.
The Tigers look for students who enjoy playing sports or have played sports in the past, are coachable, dedicated, hold at least a 2.0 GPA, and above all want to have fun, Burgess said.
This year specifically, the coaching staff targeted players from Trinity’s volleyball, basketball, soccer, and tennis teams, because these sports tend to produce great lacrosse players, Burgess said.
The absence of lacrosse was felt by more than the students, it was also experienced by Trinity leadership, Burgess said. “Our president, our vice president and the Trinity community wanted something fresh.”
The university’s president was equally excited for the non-athletes when expressing her enthusiasm about the return of lacrosse and hopes many students will come out to cheer for the Tigers.
“Field sports are a wonderful way to get exercise, learn about teamwork, and enjoy beautiful days together as a campus community,” McGuire said.
With lacrosse newly back on the spring sports roster, the plan now is to gain the support and participation of the students, faculty and community, Burgess said, and the university will continue to advertise, send out email blasts and go door-to-door to provide news, practice and game schedules.
The schedule for Trinity’s lacrosse team is always available on Trinity’s athletics web page, https://discover.trinitydc.edu/athletics/ and on the bulletin board in the athletic center.
The Trinity Tigers lacrosse team practice is held every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday
from 4:30 to 6 p.m. The team is scheduled to travel throughout the entire month of March with the upcoming schedule: Chatham University March 11, Bryn Mawr College March 18, Notre Dame of Maryland University March 25 and Bryn Athn College March 29.