Longwood University Athletics

By SOPHIA DEFEO and CHRIS COOK
LongwoodLancers.com
 
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The 2019 Longwood lacrosse team will endure a trial by fire in more ways than one this season.
 
Anchored by a core of juniors who have been thrust into leadership roles following the graduation of last year's impact senior class, the new-look Lancers enter the 2019 campaign as a youthful, talented group who will officially kick off their season at Duquesne today at noon.
 
Now in the program's seventh season under head coach Elaine Jones, the newest version of Lancer lacrosse features six returning starters, 13 letterwinners and 10 newcomers who will step into new roles, both on and off the field. A nine-member junior class will provide stability and experience as the de facto veterans of a team that graduated a seven-member senior class after last season.
 
Junior Kaitlin Luccarelli, speaking for her fellow juniors, said her nine-member class has embraced its newfound leadership mantle.
 
"We feel like we're the glue of the team."
 
Luccarelli is one six returning starters and the spearhead of Longwood's offense after leading Longwood with 43 goals a year ago. After finishing among the Big South's top 10 in goals per game last season, she was voted by league coaches to the Preseason All-Big South team and became the first Lancer attacker to earn that distinction since Katie McHugh in 2015.
 
But even with Luccarelli's scoring prowess, Longwood will be more than a one-woman show this season. Her classmate Molly Barkman has started every game since her freshman year and is among the most versatile midfielders in the conference, leading Longwood in draw controls and ranking second in goals, ground balls and caused turnovers as a sophomore.
 
Fellow juniors Lexi Davis, Dana Joss, Corri Calandra and Olivia Zubillaga also played impact roles as sophomore starters in 2018 and, along with the team's lone senior Jourdan Jones, give the Lancers starting experience and a wealth of skill at every position.
 
Said Davis, "Our team this year is very committed. We have good team chemistry and you can see that on the field. Our junior and sophomore classes are taking more leadership roles this year and taking what we learned from the seniors and implementing that on the field."
 
Two of those leadership roles officially belong to junior Jordan Howard and sophomore Emma Johnson, who were appointed team captains in the preseason by a team-wide vote. Those two form the first junior-sophomore captain's duo of Jones' tenure and step into roles previously occupied by three seniors last year.
 
But with new faces in key spots on and off the field, the youthful Lancers will not have the luxury of easing into the 2019 campaign. Jones and first-year assistant coach Jenna Kasmarik – a former Big South Player of the Year at Winthrop – have designed an early-season gauntlet that features three straight games against Atlantic 10 foes, including today's looming season opener at Duquesne.
 
Longwood follows today's opener at Duquesne with back-to-back home games against George Mason on Feb. 16 and George Washington on Feb. 23. Four of Longwood's 16 foes finished in the top 70 of the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), including Atlantic 10 preseason No. 3 George Mason and Big South rivals High Point and Winthrop.
 
Within the Big South, the Lancers see themselves as underdogs after coming in at No. 5 in the league's preseason poll, earning that position with three fourth-place votes, three fifth-place votes and one sixth-place vote.
 
"We are the underdogs this year, based on where we were picked in the conference poll," Luccarelli said. "That can help us on the field, to motivate us. We want to come out and prove ourselves.
 
"We need to place in the top four to go to the conference tournament, and that's our goal. We really have to fight for that positon. I want to prove to our conference and other teams that we've grown as a team and are ready to take another step forward from last season."
 
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