Meet the First Years

This season, 12 new freshmen have joined our lacrosse family!! Let's see what they have to say about their new life as a General!

Molly Mahoney

Molly Mahony loves W&L because of the small classes and approachable professors. But she now realizes that being an athlete means she has to manage her work and sacrifice a lot of down time.

Lizzy Caldwell

Lizzy Caldwell loves being able to represent the Generals, even though she misses her home in the Rockie Mountains. She still finds time to volunteer around Lexington though, despite being a lacrosse player and a dedicated student. 

Carly Taglienti

Becca Dean

Becca Dean's favorite part about being a lacrosse player at W&L is spending every minute with her besties, even though being an in-season athlete is a huge time commitment. 

Carly Taglienti loves that W&L is the perfect mix of academics, social life, and great lacrosse. She especially misses home cooked meals back in New Jersey, but she finds lacrosse to be a great outlet to a stressful academic life. 

- Katie Hagen & Annie Murphy

Generals' Retreat

Going into the retreat, everyone was a little nervous. Twelve hours in a room together was a long time and we were unsure of what to expect, but we decided as a team to go in with smiles on our faces and accept the challenges. The first hour or so was dedicated to learning more about one another and what we all valued. Katie Barnes is fluent in Spanish while Meredith loves her dogs. Once we realized that although we're all individuals we do have similar values, we were able to start various activities. We learned the importance of the foundation of a team. Communication and planning were all we could do for many of the activities. We learned to think out of the box and be more dynamic as people. We think that the best part of the day was when we crossed the acid river as a team. There were only 12 "rocks" we could step on safely. So we made mistakes, as in lacrosse there will always be mistakes made. But each time we learned from them as a team. Despite not being able to talk to one another, each person on the team made a mistake and each person on the team learned from one another. We communicated with body gestures and Carly was the first to attempt crossing the river.

After the 27 of us all made mistakes, Carly was able to successfully cross the river on her second attempt and everyone followed suit. As a team, it's not about being perfect, it's about learning from one another and working together to reach a common goal. Toward the end of he day, we discussed our goals and what we wanted to achieve throughout the season. All of us have big dreams and want to be the best and are aware of the sacrifices we need to make in order to get there. When discussing our sacrifices, the tone was never "oh man I'm giving this up" it was always more of a "I don't get this but I have all of this" optimistic outlook. We all started playing for different reasons but we all continue to play for similar ones: to be a part of something bigger, for pride, for the love of the game, for each other, for the team. Like we said, we were hesitant coming into that environment and stepping out of our comfort zone. But at the end of the day, there wasn't a girl in the room that could say she didn't have fun or that she didn't learn something about herself or her teammates. And who knows by the end of the season there may even be a wiggle waggle video to show. Also stay tuned for next years version of the color run - dirty girl mud run!!!!!

- Meade and Carolyn

United, Relentless, Proud: Washington and Lee Women’s Lacrosse 2013

With our first week back, Washington and Lee Women’s Lacrosse team is putting this year’s motto to the test: United, Relentless, Proud. In 2011 our seniors chose the motto “All In” to remind us to give 100% in everything we do. In 2012, the senior class chose “Never Say Never” to be our mantra encouraging us to chase after any attacker, any ground ball, and any championship. In 2013, however, the whole team came together in the fall to choose this year’s motto- even players abroad corresponded with us via email to weigh in on the process. We were asked to choose three independent words that would summarize our program and our approach to this particular season.

After tossing around words such as “Team” and “Together”, as soon as we heard United we knew that it most accurately described what we valued in our team dynamic. Year after year, what makes our team special are the lifelong bonds we build in order to be united both on and off the field. On the field we hold each other accountable so that everyone is working their hardest in games and practice. Off the field we are not only friends, but are there to assist each other through our years at W&L. Whether it’s what professor to take for Chemistry or what place in Lexington has the best Ice Cream, the best part of being a part of this special group of girls.

Working off the frost at 6am

The word Relentless was one that we struggled to find. We wanted something that would embody the individual strength of each of our teammates that makes up the whole of our teammate. We wanted to be the team that goes 100% right at the first whistle and not stop until the last whistle. “Relentless” seemed to fit that mentality perfectly.

Pride is a sentiment that runs deep at W&L, not just in our program, but in all aspects of life on campus.  We are very Proud of the 25 year long heritage that our program has cultivated- this being our 25^th anniversary as a program. Each athlete is proud to be a part of this team and that heritage- it truly is a privilege to each and every one of us. We get the opportunity to compete at a highly competitive level, represent our school, have fun playing a sport we love, and be a part of a great group of coaches and athletes working towards improving both our lacrosse game and our character.

So glad to finally have the whole team back!

By CK and Lizzy