Rowan women’s lacrosse head coach Lindsay Delaney said that the team is still hunting for seven offensive players that can work as a unit. If Wednesday’s 18-10 loss to Catholic University was any sign of how the search is going, the team is heading in the right direction.

The output comes after a 9-5 win on the road against Ursinus College to start the season on March 2, and a 9-3 loss to Stevens Institute of Technology last Saturday.

“We’ve spent a lot of time at practice on offensive sets, working together and trying to get a flow down. We need to work our plays and not just try to individually score,” said junior midfielder Ali Herbert. “We all want to win so we all take ownership to score, when instead we should be working as a team.”

Offensively, Delaney said that the team is being too patient and trying too hard to not turn the ball over, which is actually causing more mistakes. However, she believes that they can get better.

“We don’t care if they make mistakes, we don’t care if they miss shots as long as they’re working to get those,” Delaney said. “We just have to fix their approach.”

Despite the lack of execution, the Profs have been able to spread offensive production around. Eight different players have scored so far this season, with Jess Havers and Herbert pacing the team with five goals apiece.

“Personally, it’s my teammates. I wouldn’t be able to score goals if my teammates weren’t there for me and feeding me the ball,” Herbert said. “Two of my goals were off of assists. If you ask me how I scored, it’s not just me, it’s everyone around me.”

While the offense is working out of its struggles, a defense that gave up only nine shots to Ursinus has been hit hard recently. In the past two games against Stevens and Catholic, Rowan allowed a combined 52 shots.

The experienced backline consists of senior Jess Casterline and juniors Giselle Cortes and Kelly O’Brien, but with newcomer Emma Frost filling in for an injured Erin Horner in net, the unit could be facing growing pains.

“It’s Erin’s spot and everyone knows that, but Emma’s doing a great job in her role. We’re deep enough and Emma’s strong enough to handle that and when Erin gets in there, it will make us a little bit stronger,” Delaney said. “Emma’s getting reps she never thought she’d be getting.”

The Profs will get an easier task in Eastern University, which has allowed more than 10 goals in every game this season. With the brown and gold hovering around seven goals per contest, the match-up could prove beneficial to a blooming offense.

A win would give Rowan some momentum before heading to Clermont, Florida next Tuesday, March 15 to face Western New England University (2-1), and SUNY Fredonia (1-2) on Friday, March 18.

“We’ve already had three good tests, this is just another level,” Delaney said. “Every game is increasing in challenge, and it’s just going to continue to increase.”

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