Lady laxers slow to get out of the starting blocks

The Penn State women's lacrosse team starts its season off 2-2. This is the thrid season in a row the team had a lackluster start.

Once again the women's lacrosse has started the season with a record that is anything but impressive. During the 1995 and 1996 seasons the team, despite being ranked among the top teams in the nation, started with records of 0-3 and 0-2, respectively.

This year the Lady Lions have opened with a 2-2 record.

Their play has been plagued with turnovers and a general lack of aggression. It's certainly not time to panic, however. The two losses came against two tough opponents in No. 3 Loyola and No. 8 James Madison. The 15-game season is still in its early stages. The team has plenty of time to salvage a winning season, a task it proved capable of with yesterday's 14-7 defeat of Vanderbilt, and perhaps make a run at a national championship.

Still, what's the explanation for a third straight sluggish start?

Coach Julie Williams is struggling to find an answer.

"It's disappointing because I definitely thought it would be a different start for us this year," Williams said.

She believes the slow start may be the result of an overemphasis of team rather than individual play. She said she did not give individual attention to her players, for example telling a specific player to hustle more or recognize a double team, until the game against Vanderbilt. She thinks this lack of individual motivation may have hurt her team during the first three games of the season.

Williams also noted turnovers as a major cause of this season's slow start, particularly in Saturday's loss to James Madison, in which the team committed 18 turnovers.

"I don't understand that part of our game right now," Williams said, referring to the abundance of turnovers. "I don't understand why that's such a problem for us."

Junior Cheryl Videon, who netted two goals against Vanderbilt, said that perhaps nerves have contributed to the high number of turnovers. She said her teammates are often nervous and quick to throw an ill-advised pass.

"There's definitely room for improvement," Videon said.

One player who should help the team improve is attacker Julie Tice. As a freshman, Tice wasn't around for the last two slow starts, but she's determined help end this one. Against Vanderbilt, in her first start ever, Tice scored three goals.

"They were all great assists from people," she said. "You know, you're left wide open in front of the net hopefully you can put it in."

With improved play from young players like Tice and, of course, less turnovers, the Lady Lions are looking to put this season's slothful start out of mind.

"We've lost two games, yeah great, but you don't worry about it. You can't worry about it. You go on, you move on, you play the next game," Williams said. "We're used to it."