“When I was first hired to begin the Women’s Lacrosse program at Mount Saint Vincent, I set a goal to one day play the best teams in the country, because I truly felt then as I do now that we can have an excellent program here. I just never expected that we would take the field with the defending National Champions during our second season,” Spinner said. “Last season was an amazing experience for our team to finish 12-4 with a group of primarily freshmen and sophomores, and when scheduling for 2006 began I knew we had to play teams that would push us to get better. Playing in the Skyline Conference, and having teams such as the College of New Jersey on our schedule is a tremendous credit to the efforts this group have made, and it’s also an incredible motivator.”
The Dolphins begin the 2006 season in West Palm Beach, Florida where they will face SUNY Potsdam and Puget Sound during their Spring Break trip. Upon returning, the Mount will play seven consecutive away games, including trips to FDU-Florham, Babson, Vassar, and a weekend-long overnight trip with the Mount Saint Vincent Men’s Lacrosse team that will feature doubleheaders with both Keuka College and Medaille. After Mount Saint Vincent opens its Skyline Conference slate with a trip to Manhattanville April 4, the string of away games ends with a night game at the College of New Jersey on April 6. TCNJ defeated Salisbury 9-7 on May 22 to capture the 2005 Division III National Championship, the program’s 12th since 1985. Overall, the Lions have an all-time record of 291-21-1 during the last 20 years that includes the 12 National Titles, five NCAA runner-up finishes, and four third-place finishes. Spinner said that scheduling such a challenge for his team sends a message to both his current players and future Dolphins as well.
“Since day one here, I have spoken a lot about the tradition I am hoping we can build at Mount Saint Vincent, and I think the best way to teach about a great tradition is to play a team who has one. TCNJ has a Hall of Fame Coach, and a winning tradition unsurpassed in Division III lacrosse, and among the best ever at any level of this sport. At the same time, whether we win or lose that night, I hope this game sends a message to both this team and those who will join us down the road that we are not afraid to play against the best teams in the country, and that I hope when all is said and done that we can have a program that means as much to our campus and community as the Women’s Lacrosse program at TCNJ means to them. I am thrilled they agreed to play against us, and I cannot wait until April 6.” Spinner said.
After TCNJ, the Mount will play five of its final eight games at home, including Skyline Conference games with Kean, Centenary, and Farmingdale State. The Dolphins defeated both Centenary and Farmingdale on the road last season, and lost a 16-15 heartbreaker to Kean at home during the final seconds of play. Sandwiched within the home slate are trips to Stevens and Montclair State, two teams Spinner said are among the favored to win the inaugural Skyline Conference crown.
“Stevens had an amazing run last year and set the bar high for the rest of the Conference by advancing to the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, and giving an exceptional Bowdoin College team a run for its money. I expect they will be every bit as strong this season, but at the same time the rest of the Skyline teams are right in the mix,” Spinner said. “Montclair and Kean are two NJAC programs who have joined the Skyline Conference as associate members for Women’s Lacrosse, and they can compete with anybody in the country, and I don’t think either of them are going to be very far behind Stevens. Manhattanville has a new Head Coach who is doing a tremendous job and I think they’ll be right in the mix. Centenary and Farmingdale are very young and very dangerous, and are going to be significantly better than they were a year ago. The Skyline is going to be a dog-fight game in and game out, and I think it’s safe to say that our goal is to make the playoffs. But it is not going to be easy.”
With a full 17-game slate against several nationally prominent programs, a trip to Florida for Spring Break, and a challenging conference schedule, Spinner said that prior to the start of play he considers the 2006 season to be a success already.
“Looking at the schedule within the context that we’re only in our second season speaks volumes about the incredible work this team has done,” Spinner said. “When we started this program, I had a lot of coaches who started programs of their own tell me that it takes 4-5 years to be able to compete. I was told that when you build a program, you look to win your first game, then have your first winning season, then break double-digits in wins, and then you look to compete nationally. The fact that we took three of those steps during the first season was amazing. But that was the easy part. Now we have the challenge of a nationally competitive schedule with a lot of very good teams. But I am confident that we’ll continue to be a program this community will be proud to call its own game in and game out, and I am looking forward to this program continuing to progress against an incredibly challenging schedule.”
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2006 MOUNT SAINT VINCENT WOMEN'S LACROSSE SCHEDULE:
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DATE: OPPONENT: TIME: 3/14/06 vs. Potsdam State (at West Palm Beach, Florida) 7:00 p.m. 3/16/06 vs. Puget Sound (at West Palm Beach, Florida) TBA 3/21/06 at FDU-Madison 3:30 p.m. 3/25/06 at Keuka 1:00 p.m. 3/26/06 at Medaille 3:00 p.m. 3/30/06 at Babson 7:00 p.m. 4/1/06 at Vassar 1:00 p.m. 4/4/06 at Manhattanville* 3:30 p.m. 4/6/06 at The College of New Jersey 7:30 p.m. 4/8/06 KEAN* 1:00 p.m. 4/10/06 FARMINGDALE STATE* 4:30 p.m. 4/12/06 at Stevens* 4:00 p.m. 4/18/06 CENTENARY* 4:00 p.m. 4/19/06 WESTERN CONNECTICUT 4:00 p.m. 4/22/06 at Montclair State* 1:00 p.m. 4/24/06 at St. Joseph's (CT) 5:00 p.m. 4/26/06 at Skyline Conference Semifinals TBA 4/29/06 at Skyline Conference Championship TBA 5/6/06 CAZENOVIA 1:00 p.m.
* = Skyline Conference Game
Home Games in BOLD CAPS
