What a season it was for the women's lacrosse team.
The Dutchwomen not only battled their way through a difficult Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association to win the conference title with an 8-0 record, they became the first Union lacrosse team to win an NCAA game.
The season ended with fourteen wins, including that NCAA victory (14-9 over Nazareth), and two losses, one to the nation's top team, Middlebury, and the other to the country's third-ranked team, Amherst.
“I'm very proud of what the team accomplished this season,” said head coach Linda Bevelander, who is 54-27 in five years at Union. Highlights include two trips to the NCAA tournament, two UCAA championships, three trips to the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournament, and one NYSWCAA tournament championship (1999).
“The success of this season started at the end of last season, when the returning players committed themselves to each other, and continued throughout the entire year,” Bevelander said.
The Dutchwomen graduated four key players-Stephanie Maychack, Tara Illsley, Jane Kaplan, and Yvonne Turchetti. Returning will be Molly Flanagan, who, as a first-year player, set a College single-season goal scoring record (sixty-two) and was named to the national All-American third team.
“With twenty of our players returning, I fully expect
that the lessons we learned will carry over and make us
a better team next year,” Bevelander said.