Women’s lacrosse team aims to ride on momentum of last season

Improving on last season’s playoff birth may be a tough task for the CMU women’s club lacrosse team, but in the eyes of coach J.D. Chapman, the sky’s the limit.

Preaching hard work as their key to success, Chapman has high expectations for the upcoming season.

“We expect to compete every time we touch the field, regardless of the score or outcome,” Chapman said. “We also want to improve as individuals and a team as a whole.”

Coming into the season, the team looks to lean on the play of their three senior captains.

Chapman emphasized the importance of Kalamazoo senior Becka Gates, Howell senior Amanda Beger and Brighton senior Caitlin Warda as leaders.

“They do a great job of motivating and helping their teammates,” Chapman said.

Staci Sparks, club president and Dimondale junior, is not worried about her team’s skill on the field.

“We’ve been practicing hard and I think we’ve looked pretty good lately,” Sparks said.

Such play is what Campbell said he expects from the team every game. He said making it to the second round of the playoffs last season gives the team motivation to continue.

One standout in Friday’s home opener was Grand Blanc junior Nikki Steffes, scoring three goals.

“I try and play hard every game, but our win was a team effort so I can’t take all the credit,” Steffes said.

She said the team is focused and determined to win.

“We have set goals as a team and really established our focus on hard work and practice, so hopefully we keep this up the whole year,” Steffes said.