GREENWOOD, Ind. – Building a program from the ground up isn’t new territory for Ursuline women’s lacrosse head coach Ed Karasek.
After fostering a program from scratch not long ago at Indiana Tech, Karasek is in year three of the same process with the Arrows as the sport emerges within the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
Currently in that third year of the program’s blueprint at Ursuline, Karasek is ready to hit the ground running with a roster consisting of eight juniors, one senior, one sophomore and four freshmen.
Further bolstering and fast-forwarding the development was the addition of assistant coach Shannon Rohrich, a former DII standout in her own regard at Edinboro in the PSAC.
“I believe we will have maturity on the team,” Karasek said. “The seven juniors know what the game is all about by now. We are going to have a balanced attack. No one will be able to face guard us to stop us. Everyone on the team can score, including the defensive players.”
“We have four girls that can take the draw,” he added. “Possession is important. If you don’t have possession, you don’t have the ball, and if you don’t have the ball, you don’t score.”
And Ursuline has goal scorers. Maddie Kipp tied for the team lead in goals last year with 28 while Cydney Bartlett recorded 24.
But the biggest change may be the progression of junior goalkeeper Lauren Cole. Karasek went at length to rave about the maturation and work she’s putting in behind the scenes to improve her game.
“In all of the positions in lacrosse, the biggest jump from high school to college is goalkeeping,” he said. “They throw a hard and heavy ball at this level. Lauren worked extra hard in the fall. She would spend an hour with (assistant coach) Shannon (Rohrich) and then go into a two-hour practice after that.”
The promising future for Ursuline has groundwork to build upon, which includes four wins last year. The Arrows beat Alderson Broaddus and future G-MAC member Walsh.
The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) schools combine to make a formidable schedule as Ursuline also played against Lake Erie and Findlay in 2015.
Similar to the situation at Davis & Elkins, Ursuline’s roster doesn’t have the numbers that an Alderson Broaddus may contain, but roster size is ultimately not a deterrent factor.
“Alderson Broadus will be a difficult team to deal with; they will be the challenge for the season,” Karasek predicted. “I’ve met (Davis & Elkins head coach) Emily (Peets). She is working very hard to put that program together.”
“What you learn about the GLIAC is how underestimated the sport is in the Midwest,” he continued. “Tough, tough programs with deep rosters. Our has team has a lot of heart and we hung in there in a lot of real tough games.”
Ursuline’s preseason officially started on Jan. 25. Karasek is focusing on conditioning after giving his squad a week to settle back in to campus life. The regular season for the Arrows starts on Feb. 27.
Weather permitting, Ursuline may also fit in a scrimmage against John Carroll.