The Wildcats moved to 3-0 over the weekend after hosting and defeating Lewis and Quincy. NMU faced off against Lewis, winning 14-11 on Friday. The ‘Cats won on Sunday after taking down Quincy 17-4.
The Wildcats are ranked at the top spot in the GLIAC conference. One of the key components that was recently added to the team is the team’s assistant coach, Quinn Crandall, who was hired back in August 2023.
“Quinn is more of an offensive-minded person and she’s going to allow us to do some more creative things than we’ve been able to do in the past. We have two coaches that are checked in active day game coaching so that’s been really cool,” Head Coach Lindsey Majkrzak said.
The team fought for the win over Lewis as they scored eight goals in the third quarter and their opponent scored one. Senior Kaitlyn Bridger had three goals in the game.
“Kaitlyn Bridger has always had a great eye for finding people. This year we’re moving her around to different spots where she’s harder to stop,” Majkrzak said.
Also in the Lewis game, Senior Minnie Bittell had six goals. Bittell was also named this week’s GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week for her performances in both games this weekend.
“Minnie had a career weekend . Now she’s GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week,” Majkrzak said. “I thought she was awesome. She really moved the ball well and set other people up to score.”
The Wildcats then took on Quincy where the ‘Cats outscored their opponent 7-2 in the first quarter alone. Freshman Abby Sisson had three goals in the game. Bittell also had a big game on Sunday, scoring five goals and four assists.
“There’s no one I’d trust with the ball at the end of a shot clock more than Minnie,” Majkrzak said. “She’s going to make the right play. She is the threat and it’s been pretty cool to watch.”
This weekend, the Wildcats are still at home in the Superior Dome hosting not one, not two, but three teams. On Friday night, the team will host Maryville. When the teams played each other last year, the win went to Maryville as they defeated the ‘Cats 21-11.
“There [are] a lot of weapons on that team that make them a good challenge,” Majkrzak said. “[College of Saint Benedict is] a metro area Minnesota St. Paul team so they have a lot of kids that my athletes have played with that are skilled lacrosse players, so I do expect them to be a talented team and then on Sunday is McKendree. We only beat them by I think three last year and so it is a tough weekend.”
Last year, NMU won their game against McKendree 16-13. The first of the three games for the ‘Cats is on Friday at 5 p.m. The other two games will be played on Saturday and Sunday, both at 12 p.m.
“It’s a long lacrosse season so we have to be ready for this now,” Majkrzak said.
