The St. Mary’s (Md.) College women’s lacrosse team is hard at work as the Seahawks began practice for the 2007 season on Monday. Besides the incoming rookies joining the squad this season, the sidelines will have a new look as Carol Schmoeller takes over the head coaching reigns.
However, Schmoeller is no stranger to the St. Mary’s City campus, having been a two-sport athlete at SMCM in volleyball and women’s lacrosse from 2000 to 2004. She helped lead the Seahawks to four appearances in the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Tournament.
St. Mary’s earned the 14th spot in Lacrosse magazine’s annual preseason college rankings released on January 3. Middlebury College, a 2006 national semifinalist, got the magazine’s vote as the top team in Division III, while two-time defending national champion, The College of New Jersey, was ranked No. 2.
Two other Capital Athletic Conference schools were also ranked in the preseason poll as Salisbury University was ranked third and the University of Mary Washington came in the 12th spot.
Schmoeller welcomes 23 players, including 11 newcomers, to this year’s squad. Schmoeller and her coaching staff will look to prepare a young team for a tough schedule that features five Top 15 teams, including four that appeared in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. St. Mary’s will be looking to return to the NCAAs this year after just missing a bid a year ago. The Seahawks finished the 2006 season with a 13-4 record, including a 4-2 mark in the CAC.
SMCM will kick off the 2007 campaign on the road, traveling to Villa Julie College on February 21 and then heading to No. 13 Washington & Lee University on Feb. 24. Washington (Md.) College comes to town on the last day of February.
Four road games are sandwiched between a pair of home games in the month of March. No. 15 Dickinson College will visit on Mar. 3 before the Seahawks take to the asphalt to Washington, D.C., Virginia, and New Jersey. SMCM will take on Catholic University on Mar. 6, Virginia Wesleyan College on Mar. 10, The College of New Jersey on Mar. 18, and Roanoke College on Mar. 24. The Seahawks return home on Mar. 26 to host the University of Southern Maine before making the trek to York (Pa.) College on Mar. 31.
The month of April features four home games and the CAC Tournament. The Seahawks will entertain Buffalo State College and Marymount (Va.) University on Apr. 2 and 4, respectively, before heading to Salisbury on the 7th. An away game at Mary Washington on Apr. 14 is squeezed in between a pair of home games against Randolph-Macon College on Apr. 10 and Goucher College on Apr. 18.
The CAC Tournament will take place on April 22, 24, and 27 or 28. Then St. Mary’s will close out the regular-season by hosting Frostburg State University on May 5.