Lacrosse matchup is no cup of tea
Posted on February 14, 2008
Five time zones and over three thousand miles separate two groups of women, but on Wednesday they came together at JMU’s campus for one reason: a lacrosse game.
It was the fourth time that the teams came together at Madison as the English national team played JMU in a preseason scrimmage.
JMU won the exhibition 11-6 led by 5 goals from senior Julie Stone and 3 goals from senior Annie Wagner. England, who played Richmond on Monday, played many of its younger players for the majority of the game including three 16-year-olds.
“Colleges in Europe are too small [so] there is no competition,” said Lucy Lynch, a member of the England and Madison lacrosse teams. “To improve, we need to come to play U.S. colleges.”
As part of its tour to prepare for the 2009 Lacrosse World Cup in the Czech Republic, the team from England plays many of the top collegiate teams on the east coast. The team’s current trip includes games against Duke University, University of Virginia, University of North Carolina and University of Richmond.
“We want to increase where we’ve been in the World Cup,” England coach Lois Richardson said. “We want to improve our position for [2009] and the future.”
Lynch’s role as a member of the Dukes’ squad provides the opportunity for Madison to face the English women. Wednesday was the second meeting between the two teams this school year and is used in order to prepare JMU for their season opener, Feb. 28, against Dartmouth.
“For us it is an opportunity to trial everything that we have been working on against a team that doesn’t know us,” Madison coach Shelley Klaes-Bawcombe said. “It’s a true exhibition.”
The matchup is also a chance for England to play against a higher standard than is seen in Europe. According to Lynch, the pool of players interested in lacrosse in the U.S. is larger than what is available in England. She described the skill level in the states as “superior” compared to “amateur” abilities back home.
Lynch is not the only member of the Dukes who has international experience. Senior attacker Natasha Fuchs was a member of the U.S. developmental team last year and assistant coach Lindsay Lewis is currently a captain of the developmental team.
“It’s a great opportunity for us competitively being able to play against international women who compete in the World Cup,” Klaes-Bawcombe said. “It’s a higher level of intensity.”
Although the English team looks to compete against what it consider a more skilled group of players, the exhibition allows JMU to face a different type of opponent than they are used to playing against.
“They really do a great job of letting the ball do the work,” Klaes Bawcombe said. “They pass really well, they use space really well, and they are very physical women. It’s a faster game and it’s a physical game so it’s a really great preparation for us.”
The coaches from England hope to take aspects of the Dukes’ game with them in their preparation for the World Cup. According to Richardson, her team wants to play the best that the U.S. has to offer.
“I think the one thing we can take away from the American game is the level of skill,” Richardson said, “In terms of shooting, receiving and keeping of the ball.”
