ROCK HILL, SC – The journey for Winthrop women's lacrosse started in November of 2010 as the University announced the addition of the new sport and on Friday, February 8, 2013, 24 student-athletes will become a part of history as the Eagles will hit the field in the school's first-ever NCAA women's lacrosse match.
John Sung, a young yet experienced leader, was tabbed as the first lacrosse coach for Winthrop in May of 2011 and began the task of building a program from scratch. This was not his first endeavor into starting a program, having previously started a program at Adrian College in Michigan.
Sung and assistant coach Amanda Shimp have assembled a squad of 21 freshmen, two sophomores and one junior that Sung believes will be competitive in the Big South, which is also hosting its first lacrosse championship this season.
“Since this team stepped foot on campus, I knew that the team chemistry would be good on and off the field,” Sung said. “Not having the majority of the team ever playing in a NCAA game is a bit scary, but knowing the girls are playing for each other makes a huge difference.”
The Eagles were voted by the league's coaches to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason poll. High Point and Davidson were voted to the top two spots with Longwood in third. Winthrop was voted ahead of Presbyterian and Liberty, both of which have previously fielded lacrosse teams.
Despite the very young team that the Eagles will field, the team does have some talent that has NCAA playing experience.
Alyssa Blevins is a sophomore transfer from the University of Maryland – Baltimore County where she played one year with the Retrievers, seeing time in nine contests. Fellow sophomore Mary Accomando followed Coach Sung to Winthrop from Adrian College where she played in 21 matches her freshman season.
The remainder of the squad has not played an official NCAA lacrosse contest yet, but has worked feverishly over the past eight months to get to this point.
The inaugural season for the Eagles will commence on Friday, February 8 at Howard University followed by a road contest two days later at Navy.
“I feel that we have a very balanced schedule,” Sung said. “Navy, Denver and Jacksonville will be tough non-conference opponents and with the Big South receiving an automatic qualifier into the NCAA tournament, every conference game will be big.”
Winthrop will play its first-ever home lacrosse match at Eagle Field on Friday, February 15 at 6 p.m. against the Marquette University Golden Eagles. The match against Marquette will start a three-game homestand for the Eagles with contests against St. Bonaventure on February 24 and St. Francis (PA) on March 3.
The non-conference slate for the Eagles continues with road matches against Denver on March 8, Fresno State in Denver on March 10 and Jacksonville on March 22. Winthrop will host Kennesaw State on March 15 and Detroit Mercy on March 22.
The Eagles conference slate includes all of the seven lacrosse-playing schools. Winthrop will travel to Longwood (March 13), Presbyterian (April 1), High Point (April 5) and Coastal Carolina (April 7). The Eagles will host Campbell (March 30), Liberty (April 14) and Davidson (April 21).
