SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- With a new head coach, and only six players from last season on this year's active roster, the Mount Holyoke College lacrosse team is entering what could fairly be called the textbook example of a rebuilding season.
That only enhances the feeling sense of anticipation for the 2023 season -- which, after a postponement from Wednesday, will now officially begin Thursday at 6pm, with the Lyons hosting the Thomas College Terriers on the MHC Turf.
"I think there's always a little apprehensiveness when you have a new coach," said the new head of the program, Annie O'Byrne '13. "You're feeling one another out, trying to ascertain how the coach coaches and things like that, so I know there's been a lot of anticipation building up. We also have a pretty good amount of our team being dual-sport athletes or who joined us later than when we had [fall practices], so we have a lot of new faces."
Mount Holyoke not only has its first new head coach in 16 years, but the vast majority of the playing time allotted to last year's team went to the now-graduated senior class.
The 2023 Lyons, by contrast, are an exceptionally young team, with no seniors: their resident grizzled veteran is junior Hannah Bisson (South Hadley, Mass.), one of three captains along with sophomores Madison Millyan (Winchester, Mass.) and Ella Phillips (Sandwich, Mass.). They, along with sophomore goalie Emma Tower (Dover, N.H.), help constitute "quite a good base of returners" for Mount Holyoke, O'Byrne says.
With Mount Holyoke's roster on the smaller side in numbers, health and injury avoidance could be key components of its fortunes. The team leaders, certainly, prove their mettle and dedication on a constant basis. Hannah Bisson has put in immense work rehabbing from her second compartment syndrome surgery in as many summers. Phillips, too, has worked her way back from multiple shoulder injuries.
There are nine first-year players on Mount Holyoke's roster, many of whom, such as midfielder Emi Bisson (Chester, Conn.) and attacker Elle Mader (Cincinnati, Ohio), will step into major roles on the team right away, both by necessity and by merit. "We have a great crop of first-years," said O'Byrne. "They're green in the sense that every first-year is green, but they're so eager to play and to reach the next level.... They're all pretty great, honestly."
O'Byrne describes her coaching style as an adjustment for the Lyons, and she is happily impressed with how they have responded. "I know that I'm approaching the game a little bit differently from what they're used to... I think it's a lot of work for them, but they seem to be excited and very apt to grow from it, so it's been good. They've all been really dedicated to the things that I've been asking them to do, so I'm really excited about that piece."
Following the Thomas game, Mount Holyoke stays home to host Rhode Island College Saturday at noon, before the Lyons' first road game at Eastern Connecticut State on March 8.
The Lyons fly to Austin, Texas, in two weeks to play out-of-region opponents Sewanee (March 13) and North Central (March 15) at Southwestern University. Mount Holyoke begins NEWMAC play at home on Saturday, March 18 at 12pm against MIT.
