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Playing women’s lacrosse in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) might be one of the most competitive athletic endeavors in Division III. It is not unusual to find NESCAC teams making up half of the top 10 in the nation, with any number of other members a little lower in the top 20, waiting to spring an upset and claim their spot. Recently the Bates College Bobcats have provided the upsets. Bates has cracked the top 20 in each of the past three seasons.
The Bobcats return two key components to last year's team: Carrie Smith '04 (Chevy Chase, Md.) and Lori Jessup '04 (Hatboro, Pa.). Both have already surpassed the 100-point milestone, and Becky Castle '04 (Stonington, Conn.), with 91 career points, will look to be the third member of the 100-point club in the senior class. Smith suffered an injury early on in the season and missed 10 games. Despite her short season, Smith scored 16 goals and added four assists. Jessup tied for the team-lead in points with 36, scoring a team-best 29 goals to go along with seven assists. Castle scored and assisted on 15 goals last year. After shifting position from defense, Liz McNamara '05 (Plainfield, N.H.) picked up the goalie position quickly. In 16 games, she made 224 saves and finished fifth in the NESCAC with a .529 save percentage. |
