Women's Lacrosse | 2/20/2015 1:13:00 PM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Davenport women's lacrosse team will begin their 2015 season over spring break as they travel to Florida, where they will face a pair of NCAA DII squads in two exhibition games, before they face NWLL opponent Ave Maria to start their 2015 regular season. The first exhibition game will take place on Saturday in Lakeland, Fla., as Davenport faces Florida Southern College at 11 a.m.
 
Game 1 – Exhibition
At Florida Southern College – Exhibition
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2015
Opening Draw: 11 a.m.
Location: Lakeland, Fla. (Bryant Stadium)
 
Game 2 – Exhibition
At Saint Leo University – Exhibition
Date: Monday, February 23, 2015
Opening Draw: 7 p.m.
Location: Saint Leo, Fla. (University Turf Stadium)
 
Game 3
At Ave Maria
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Opening Draw: 3 p.m.
Location: Ave Maria, Fla. (North Park)
 
What We Return
Coming into this season, Davenport returns all but two players from their team last season. Highlighting the returners for this season on the offensive end are Kaitlyn Lowden and Taylor Balch. Last season Balch led the offensive attack with 99 points and 46 assists on the season. Lowden was the leading goal scorer on the season for Davenport with 65 goals. On the backend, starting goalie from last year Sam Powers returns, while the main starting defensive core for Coach Harris also returns including Mackenzie Van Der Warf, and team leader in ground balls, Natalie McHale returns.
 
What We Add
This season Rob Harris brings in five new players to the program, four of which will bolster the backend for his team. Harris brings in Maeve Sweeney and Rachel Kelly from Illinois, along with Madison Francis and Alyssa Harbottle from Michigan. The lone attacker that Harris added this season was Amber Livingston from Rockford, Mich., who was part of Rockford's state championship winning team last season.
 
Touring Florida
To start the 2015 season, the Lady Panthers will be taking a tour of Florida as they play two exhibition games, before they open their 2015 regular season. The two exhibition games will be played in Central Florida as they face a pair of NCAA DII programs from the Sunshine State Conference in Florida Southern College and Saint Leo University. After the two exhibition games, Davenport will head to South Florida to face Ave Maria in the first NWLL regular season game for the Panthers.
 
Recapping Last Season
Last season's version of the women's lacrosse team was the most successful in program history as they went 16-4 on the season, while winning both the WHAC regular season and tournament titles, along with a fourth place finish at the NWLL National Championships. The Panthers also set new program records in points (483), goals (347), assists (136), groundballs (482), draw controls (334), and wins (16).
 
Women's Lacrosse Contact: David Gerhart | 616-554-5045 | dgerhart@davenport.edu
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