By Morgan Hoffman, Staff Writer
The women’s lacrosse team traveled throughout California over midterm break for a pair of games against Fresno State and San Diego State. The team was in the Golden State for six days to compete somewhere with less snow than Olean.
It’s difficult for the team to train on campus due to the snow and cold temperatures, so it sought out spring break trips in warmer climates to have a better training opportunity.
“The weather there was so nice, and we get so much out of it in terms of game preparation before conference play,” said head coach Chelsea Rosiek.
The team typically travels south for spring break, and next year it plans to return south traveling to Georgia. This was the first year the team has traveled to the West Coast since 2010.
Making these spring break trips allows the team to learn and improve before it moves on to A10 conference play.
“They definitely tested us,” Rosiek said, “I think it shows what we still need to work on. It’s good we’re playing teams like this moving into conference play because all of the teams in the A10 are very good.”
Rosiek described how important it is to have a competitive non-conference schedule in order to improve the team before moving on to conference play.
Junior defender Aniesah Miller said, “We’re coming back this week excited to work on everything we learned.”
The Bonnies started in northern California, playing Fresno State, then made its way south to San Diego State. Rosiek described the views on the ride as breathtaking.
“The whole travel day didn’t feel wasted,” Rosiek said, “You could just stare out the window at the most beautiful views.”
Rosiek believed this trip was an amazing memory for the team as some of the players had never even been outside of New York state.
While the team wasn’t on the field, it enjoyed the walking the beach and boardwalk and soaking up the sun.
The team was able to spend some time with freshman midfielder Maggie Sweeney’s family who are from Carlsbad, California.
“Her family had a bonfire for us on the beach,” Rosiek said, “It was amazing and a great team bonding activity.”
While the school financially supports the team, it was not enough to cover the expenses of the trip. Each player was required to raise money to offset the cost through various fundraisers like selling 50/50 tickets and working concessions at the basketball games.
Leaving the sunshine behind, the snow and cold weather is not stopping the team now that it’s back on campus. The trip showed the team what it needed to improve on, and now it’s working hard in hopes of successful conference play.
“I’m staying positive and pumping up my teammates for our next games,” Miller said.
