ST. PAUL, Minn. – This weekend marks the beginning of a new era for Concordia-St. Paul athletics as the Golden Bear women's lacrosse program hosts its inaugural games at the Concordia Dome at Sea Foam Stadium.
Check back on Thursday for a player-specific preview introducing the team by positions!
WEEKEND OF INAUGURALS AT CONCORDIA DOME!
Concordia will host Northland College (Wis.) on Friday at 7 p.m. and Marian University (Ind.) on Sunday at 11 a.m. All three programs are in their inaugural varsity seasons with Northland entering NCAA Division III as an independent in its first year. The Jill's announced the addition of the program and a new stadium in May, 2015 and hired its head coach David Pomeroy in June, 2016. The Northland Jill's will be replacing Robert Morris on the schedule this weekend.
The Marian Knights are also in their first year of fielding a varsity program, announcing the program's addition to the athletic department in March, 2015 before spending the 2015-16 academic year as a provisional member of the National Women's Lacrosse League (NWLL) in an exhibition season. Marian announced their head coach Lauren Davis just weeks after announcing the program in March, 2015
On Saturday, Marian will face Northland at 1 p.m. in the Concordia Dome in Marian's inaugural varsity game.
"We intentionally scheduled our first two games against NAIA and DIII opponents so we were able to ease our way into our inaugural NCAA season," said head coach
Mo Dunnigan. "With two opponents in inaugural seasons, it really is a natural scheduling fit for three programs to see where we're at as we look to build on each contest. With such a young team, it's good for us to take steps against different levels and to gauge where we're at along the way. It's exciting that not only are the three teams this weekend in inaugural campaigns, but also all representing the Midwest."
INAUGURAL WEEKEND: FESTIVITIES & PROMOS
For Concordia's inaugural weekend, the athletic department is giving away 200 commemorative inaugural season lacrosse t-shirts (100 for students, 100 for CSP fans) on Friday night. For the opener on Friday, there will be a short recognition of the inaugural game prior to the first draw including the national anthem performed by Sea Foam Stadium's top donor, Mr. Phil Fandrei and a ceremonial draw with
CSP President Rev. Dr. Tom Ries.
Following Friday night's game will be a meet and greet with the team and coaching staff at
O'Gara's Bar & Grill.
On Sunday, the first 50 fans will receive a coupon for a free Jimmy John's sandwich at the location near campus on Snelling Avenue.
GAMEDAY ATMOSPHERE
The Concordia Dome features four 3-row bleachers and limited bench seating along the west sideline. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and seniors, children 10 and under and CSP students are free with ID. Spectators may also bring their own seating in the event that bleachers and benches are full. Food, beverages and pets are not allowed inside Concordia Dome, and restrooms are located under the stadium concourse just outside the revolving doors.
During game play, spectators will be entertained by former Minnesota Swarm personality "The Professor" Howard Green. He'll conduct brief pre-game, halftime and post-game interviews with coaches and players and his in-game announcing will be tailored towards engaging fans in an informative and exciting format.
ONLINE COVERAGE
For fans unable to make it to Concordia Dome to see the inaugural weekend in person, the CSP games (Friday & Sunday) will be streamed live online, free of charge through
CSP's GameCentral portal via Stretch Internet. The broadcast features a single camera feed located at midfield and will be accompanied in the portal by live in-game statistics.
Audio will be provided by play-by-play professional Dan Flanagan, the Voice of the Golden Bears since the 2008-09 academic year. The St. Paul native was professionally trained at the Division I level and has called Concordia action since returning to his hometown following his undergrad broadcasting career at Fordham University. He'll be joined by Alex Ross providing expert color commentary. Ross is head coach at Apple Valley High School since 2009 and also has experience in broadcasting at the MSHSL State Tournament level. She was the 2014 Minnesota State Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year for the Eagles.
In addition to the
interactive GameCentral portal with video & rich live stats, a traditional HTML-based
live stats option is also available.
SEASON EXPECTATIONS: YEAR ONE
Concordia will be competing in the 2017 inaugural lacrosse season as the only NCAA Division II independent women's lacrosse team in the country, a challenging proposition for the fledgling program. Dunnigan was able to put together a strong first year schedule, combining opponents across all divisions while competing against newer and established NCAA Division II opposition. The result will provide the young team comprised of 18 freshmen, a sophomore, a junior and no seniors a chance to face programs at similar stages of development to implement their offensive and defensive systems and learn to play as a cohesive unit while also adding challenges throughout the season to become a strong Division II program.
Among the scheduling hurdles was proximity as the Golden Bears are the only NCAA Division II program in the five state area (). The team will play in three different time zones and five different states in year one including a stretch of 17 days during which the players will sleep in their own beds just four nights from March 2 to March 19.
"We have to make sure everyone on the team sees that as a huge blessing, to be on the road with their teammates and growing together as opposed to letting it wear them down. It will take a tremendous amount of discipline that is a welcomed challenge for our first-year program. This is what defines who we are as a team, how we recover from obstacles along the way and how we adjust and get better as a result," said Dunnigan.
It's been a productive two years for Dunnigan, who was hired during the summer leading into the 2015-16 academic year. In addition to her first full time head coaching job, Dunnigan got married in August of 2015, has continued to grow her role with the Colombia National Team, hired a coaching staff, signed 20 student-athletes in three different recruiting periods to the inaugural roster and completed all of the other tasks from purchasing uniforms and equipment to assembling a training schedule in concert with CSP's other 15 sports teams on campus.
The team is ready to take the field for game one, and Dunnigan insists that the goal will be the same in year one as year five and beyond.
"We're definitely not a team expecting to use "first year" excuses, we hold the same expectations as a four year or even a 10-year program each time we take the field. We want to have a winning record, we want to have a small goal differential margin or a margin in our favor, and the big thing we'll focus on is that we are executing," she stated. "We'll be a team that focuses on executing with ground balls and shots on goal, finishing plays and not finding ourselves simply going through the motions. If we can execute those areas, that is the first step in getting the results we want."
Within that context, Dunnigan has expectations for how the team will progress and compete throughout the year.
"The biggest goal for us is to build and grow off of every game. We can't take time after a win and pat ourselves on the back, that is when we need to press to the next level. There's always something we can be doing to improve whether it's getting bigger, faster, stronger or smarter."
As previously mentioned, the schedule lays out in a way that will align for the program to achieve its goals and mark its progress throughout the season.
"The schedule is lined up strategically in that we have a nice beginning with teams in similar stages, but the opposition will get tougher throughout the year so if we do build off each game and progress as planned, we'll be ready to compete against ranked opponents on the schedule."
The team knocked down a major barrier with a 19-10 win over the University of Minnesota club team at the end of January.
"We learned that we'll be aggressive defensively as much as we can, I liked how we naturally began disrupting the settled offensive sets. We did that well, and it's something we'll continue to work to develop. What I saw on film is that whenever a ball was on the ground, we were there to dig it out. We didn't give up, went for them 100 percent," said Dunnigan.
While there were numerous positives to take from the game, Dunnigan also saw some opportunities for growth with the young team.
"With a first year program and 18 first year college players, we expect there has to be a lot of room for growth. Taking control and valuing the ball is something we want to do better. When we have a turnover in practice, that's a real turnover that is felt on both sides of the ball. In the exhibition we had far too many turnovers, especially in the first half. We look forward to improving that and are looking for successful clears, to take our time and not rush the ball once we get the ball into our attacking zone."
But overall, the team has come a long way in a short amount of time together between the fall season, offseason training and the January and early February official season practices.
"They've worked really hard, we have a young team and we need a lot of growth on and off the field but I'm really excited to see these strong, determined young women achieve their goals together this season and in the coming years. They've really embraced the process well, realizing that what they are doing today is bigger than themselves and that what we do today sets the tone for Division II lacrosse here for years to come."
