After a record-breaking 2018 season, Coast Guard women’s lacrosse is back in their fifth season. The 2018 NEWMAC Coach of the Year Mary Heneberry is entering her third season with the Bears, after leading Coast Guard to a program record, 12 wins last season. The Bears also qualified for the NEWMAC tournament for the first time in program history, where they defeated Wheaton 8-7 for the program’s first tournament victory to advance to NEWMAC semifinal. The Bears finished the season 12-7 and 4-4 in NEWMAC play, winning their first ever conference regular season games as well.
With three returning NEWMAC All-Conference second team members in Llewellyn, Haley McCue, and Haley Howard, the Bears look to be strong both defensively and offensively. “We have a really dynamic group that will cover both ends of the field,” said Heneberry. Along with the three All-Conference returners, Heneberry says, “we are excited to see the sophomore class come into their own, the freshman have been contributing a lot and a lot of different players will get opportunities to leave their mark on the team and contribute in different ways.”
For this season the Bears will look to “keep morale high, play conservatively and smart on and off the field.” The season opener is this Saturday when they host Eastern Conn. State at noon. They will also take a trip during spring break for a game at the US Lacrosse Complex in Sparks, Maryland. In the NEWMAC, the Bears were voted fourth overall in the preseason poll. “Our biggest test will be the competitiveness of the NEWMAC teams, we are excited to see the pieces come together for us and how we compete against them this year.”