Joshua Mabry, Campus Carrier Asst. Sports Editor

There is a lot of talent returning to the women’s lacrosse team this season and a strong freshman class that should help contribute to what should be a successful season, according to head coach Brittni Hall. 

Coming off of a 4-11 overall record last year, Hall said that this group is a totally different team from last season, and she is excited to see what will come of it. 

The Vikings expect to have a much better season than they did last year.

“Right now, we are trying to minimize gaps of competition,” Hall said. “We’re looking to win some of those one point games that we lost last year.” 

Hall believes that the biggest competitor in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) conference is Rhodes College, who has won the conference championship the last four years. 

The Vikings are trying to minimize the struggle gap with teams like Rhodes and give them competition that they are not expecting, according to Hall. 

Hall said that the team has a strong attack this season. 

“We have a lot of upperclassmen mixed with freshmen, but that leads to a really good combination,” Hall said. “We also have a lot of returners on our defensive end.”

The team’s attack will look new and its defense will be strong because of the foundation that they set last year, according to Hall. 

Hall said senior goalie Ella Makin is going to make a significant contribution to this year’s team. 

“She is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year,” Hall said. “She has continued to grow in her skill and she’s done so well ever since being at Berry. This senior year, I’m really expecting her to do a lot, which is going to be awesome.” 

Hall said that the biggest challenge to overcome this year will be having a team with many new people, making it hard to find team chemistry. 

“Hopefully we will peak as the season goes on,” Hall said. “We may not find [the chemistry] right away, but as the year goes on and we play more together, we hopefully will find that and continue to grow in it.” 

Senior defender Brittni Hoover said she is excited about the culture the team is going to cultivate this year. 

She said she hopes that this culture will provide the team with a unity that they have not seen before. The women’s lacrosse team should do well this season, according to Hoover. 

“I’m super excited to see how we connect and that family that everyone wants on a team, I’m excited for that,” Hoover said. “I look forward to seeing our team give some other teams in the conference some competition that we haven’t seen before,” Hoover said. 

Personally, Hoover looks forward to seeing how she has grown in the offseason. She said that she worked hard to excel and grow in her skills. 

She tries to be a positive person and help connect the team. 

“I plan on encouraging every single person on the team and cultivating honesty and authenticity within the team,” Hoover said. 

Freshman attacker Tabi Galvin wants to see her team come together this season. She said that in fall ball, the team had a rough start meeting everyone. They want to move away from that. 

Galvin said that she has gotten to know her team over the last few weeks and she wants to see that growing continue. 

Personally, Galvin wants to score at least three goals this season, but hopefully more. 

Not being a negative person is what Galvin hopes to bring to the table this season. 

“It’s really easy, when you’re down, to start blaming other people or start blaming the refs, but you have to work past that and just keep going with the game and what’s going on,” Galvin said. 

Galvin said that she wants to help other people see that because it is hard for her to see that sometimes. 

The women’s lacrosse team opens the season on Feb. 2, on the road against Point University. 

The first home game will be at 6 p.m. on Feb. 21 against Life University.