NMU sports fans, lacrosse is back and already meeting expectations from last season.

This weekend, the team opened their season at home, hosting both Walsh and Wisconsin-Stout.

“Friday was super important—just beating that regional opponent and doing it pretty handily in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, we can keep momentum building off of that play,” Head Coach Lindsey Majkrzak said.

The team came out swinging in the first game of the season against Walsh, coming away with a 19-6 win.

The team kept up the fight through the entire game, scoring seven goals in the fourth quarter alone.

“The way we’re able to score in the fourth quarter in that game is hopefully going to be a sign of how we can play into the season,” Majkrzak said.

During the win over Walsh, two Wildcats led the offense with six goals each. Sophomore Josie Lakosky and Junior Maddi Bast both delivered six points in the season opener.

“Josie’s so fun—she has such great vision, and she’s a great athlete. She can zip around the field and get draw controls in a way that is really useful to us after graduating two players who were huge circle players for us last year. Having her be able to do that and her willingness to share the ball this year is going to be huge. We have a couple of different people we’re going to look to for scoring—Maddi Bast, who’s back in the Midfield,” coach said.

Moving into Sunday’s game, the Wildcats took on Wisconsin-Stout to close out opening weekend. This time, the team was able to hold Stout to one goal throughout the entire game, with a final score of 18-1.

“Sunday was really fun—a lot of players saw the field, a lot of first goals for freshman. It was a really good atmosphere. We had really good crowds both nights,” Majkrzak said.

Some of those freshmen included Taylor Roberts, who had two goals in the win, Hannah Jabas with a goal, Annabelle Johnson with her first goal of the season, and Katelyn Wozney who added another goal to the scoreboard.

“It was a fun weekend. Obviously, you want to start with defending your home turf. I think we have a pretty cool home-field advantage here, and we took advantage of that,” Majkrzak said.

This weekend, the team will play one home game as they get ready to host Wisconsin-La Crosse.

La Crosse is unranked and will make their season debut at the Superior Dome. The Wildcats will host Wisconsin-La Crosse this Saturday at noon in the Dome.

The Wildcats will then hit the road as they continue their season.