Cambridge University Women’s Lacrosse Club (CUWLC) made a strong start to their Southern League season on Wednesday afternoon at St John’s pitches, as they put in a dominant performance to record a 20-5 victory over the University of Bath.  

With confidence at a high on the back of a successful week of preseason, the Light Blues controlled the match both in terms of possession and on the scoreboard. Indeed, by registering such a convincing win, the home side continued where they picked off from last season, with a superb run of form having seen CUWLC go undefeated across all league games. It also represented a promising start for new coach Phil Collier and a number of new players: Ella Benson, Kate Wareing, Amelia Miller, Tilly Eno, Kristjana Caka and Lara Dillingha were all representing the Light Blues for the first time.

The home side began the game strongly, with Miller capitalising on CUWLC’s draw control to set the tone for the first half with two, back-to-back goals. This momentum continued with the Blues holding possession for most of the first 20 minutes of the game, keeping the ball safe and moving it sharply up the field. Their tactics in attack – passing and moving filled with clever and quick ‘give and goes’ – saw the Light Blues raced into a clear scoreboard lead. 

But Bath, rattled by this, began to come into the game. After having called a tactical time-out, the away side came back with more fight and, following a turnover in CUWLC’s attacking unit and a quick transition through midfield, the Light Blues’ defence lost their composure – perhaps a sign of early season rust – and conceded a weak goal.

The Light Blues’ regrouped swiftly: following a brief team-chat from returning Blues player, Maeve Gillespie, the defensive unit refocused, their communication sharpened and intensity increased. This restricted Bath from troubling the scorers for the rest of the first half while the CUWLC attack’s well-placed shooting added further to the home side’s lead, ensured that the Light Blues went into half-time with a solid lead.

And Cambridge’s control over the match continued into the second half. Benson, who was later named Player of the Match, put in a stellar defensive performance in midfield forced a number of turnovers in the Light Blues’ favour, and this allowed the CUWLC attack to continue laying siege to Bath’s ever-tiring defence. Despite Caka being on the receiving end of a yellow card and a stretch in the sin-bin, the Light Blues’ managed to retain their composure and fend off Bath attacks, laudably restricting the away side to a few goals, scored by Bath captain Emily Irons, while playing one team member down.

Once returned to their full complement of players, the usual state of affairs returned: the Light Blues continued to dominate for the remainder of the second half, scoring a succession of goals in the closing stages. With their lead looking increasingly unassailable, CUWLC captains, Julie Wise and Ayesha Nicholls, took the opportunity to practice some of their team’s set-play offensive moves that may give the Light Blues a much-needed attacking edge in some of the tougher matches to come later this season.

As the match reached its conclusion with the scoreline showing a comfortable 20-5 win for the home side, the Light Blues will feel that such a fantastic result so early in the season is testament to the dedication and determination with which CUWLC approach pre-season training.

Indeed, speaking to Varsity after the game, co-captains Julie Wise and Ayesha Nicholls expressed their delight at the result, saying: “We were really happy with the outcome of today. It was such an encouraging start to the season and great to see all the new Freshers impacting upon the game! However, there is still a lot that can be taken away and worked on before our big game against Exeter, and we’re looking forward to that challenge next week.”

CUWLC: Coales, Gildersleeves, Gillespie, Benson, Caplan, Wareing, Crawford, Miller, Lehovsky, Nicholls (c), Eno, Veys, Caka, Wise (c), Birch, Peters, Villar, Dillingham

Scorers: Lehovksy (4), Miller (3), Nicholls (3), Peters (3), Wise (2), Caka (2), Dillingham (1)

University of Bath: Irons (c), Healey, Symes, Henley, Donaldson, Cheung, de Mulder, Lloyd Jones, Ridsdale, Emilia Drury, Ella Drury, Critcher, Stapleton, Wordie

Scorers: Irons (3), Lloyd Jones (1), Wordie (1)