Suffolk University announced that its 20th varsity program, women’s lacrosse, will begin play in the 2024-25 season.
“It’s like all of our other athletic programs in that we want it to be a really good student athlete experience,” said Suffolk Athletics Director Cary McConnell. “We want them to have success in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, have some success regionally, and really just have a fully functioning enjoyable experience for all the student athletes involved.”
After a national coaching search, Suffolk named Carolynn Keal the first coach of the women’s lacrosse program.
“We’re really excited that coach Keal’s with us, she does have some New England roots having grown up and played lacrosse up this way. She’s got some great contacts, great enthusiasm, and she’s going to build a really nice program for us,” McConnell said.
At the moment, the women’s lacrosse team doesn’t have any players, so Keal has been tasked with scouting and recruiting players to join the inaugural team.
“It’s a really exciting time to grow and build a team,” Keal said. “I’ve been traveling all summer all over America to recruit new players. I have a pretty packed fall as well. I’ll be going to Arizona, Florida and a couple Massachusetts tournaments, really just trying to bring in the best group of people to start this program.”
Being able to create a new program from scratch here at Suffolk was one of the big reasons Keal decided to apply to coach the team.
“Having the opportunity to build a culture and create that team environment is very important to me. It’s something that I really focused on at all the universities I’ve worked at, so having the opportunity to set the expectations for your first class and have them execute that is going to be amazing,” Keal said.
Keal cites leadership as one of the main qualities in players she’s looking for to play on the team.
“I think most importantly with building an inaugural team, I want some natural leaders because we don’t have a bunch of upperclassmen to lead everyone,” Keal said. “We also need people who are excited about going to school in Boston. It’s really important to me because at the end of the day, you’re not just playing lacrosse 24/7, we want you to enjoy your college experience.”
Taking inspiration from the inaugural women’s hockey team that saw immediate success, Keal wants the women’s lacrosse team to be competitive right away.
“The Commonwealth Coast Conference is a really great conference in our region. Whoever wins our conference championship gets to go to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, so that’s definitely a goal of mine that I’ve been telling recruits from day one,” Keal said. “That’s where I see this program going. I want us competing and showing up in conference play so we have the chance to play on the national stage.”
Although they hope to recreate the women’s hockey team’s immediate success, the goal is to build on their first year and create a great program, which doesn’t necessarily correlate with a win-and-loss record.
“I don’t think we really have any expectations yet,” McConnell said. “We do want them to be competitive out of the gates, be able to play an entire season that first year with some success, and then from there build on that success.”
Although a lot of coach Keal’s recent scouting has been outside of Suffolk, she also wants student athletes from Suffolk to try out for the team. She urges student athletes at Suffolk who are interested in joining the team to email her.
Anyone who is interested in trying out for the team should contact coach Keal directly at [email protected].
