Ashland University will play and host its first women's lacrosse game in program history on Saturday (Feb. 23) at 1 p.m. vs. Notre Dame College at Ferguson Field.
For those involved, the buildup is finally over, and it's time to compete against other teams.
"We're probably tired of playing against each other," said Ashland's head lacrosse coach Shaun Williamson. "Winter is long, and this is kind of that light at the end of the tunnel."
With two scrimmages under their belt now, the Eagles are more prepared for their first game.
"It has definitely helped because in practice it's hard to really replicate a game as far as transition and all the little nuances to playing in a game," said Williamson. "It allowed us to get out there and get up and down the field and see what will work and won't work."
As a brand-new team, Ashland already is beginning to see rapid improvements.
"Even between the first two scrimmages, the first was very frantic, things were all over the place, and in our second scrimmage we were much more relaxed, and it was a better performance overall," said Williamson. "I think going into our Notre Dame game, we'll see another level to that and see a little more refinement in our offense and a little better communication with the defense."
Ashland's first game of the season and its history will come against NDC. Notre Dame was 3-11 in its 2018 campaign, and was picked to finish sixth in the Mountain East Conference.
"They haven't played yet either," said Williamson. "Looking at their previous season, if we can do some good things and play some solid defense, I wouldn't be shocked if we come out with a win, but it's also our first time out, so it could go either way."
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