Women's Lacrosse Releases 2020 Schedule
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) women's lacrosse team and first-year head coach Karen Nell unveiled the Blue Jays' schedule for the 2020 season this week. Highlighting USJ's 16-game regular-season slate are eight home games, including five of six from March 24 to April 7. The Blue Jays will look to open the season strong with a win on their home field this Saturday, March 7, when they host Bay Path University at 12:00 p.m.
2020 WOMEN'S LACROSSE SCHEDULE
Saint Joseph kicks off the season with three non-conference matches, including a two-day trip to Maine on Tuesday, March 10 and Wednesday, March 11. Saint Joseph will square off with Maine-Farmington and Thomas (Me.), both starting at 4:00 p.m, both being played at Thomas College. It will be the first of three sets of back-to-back road games.
Up next will be the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener, as the Blue Jays host Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday, March 14 at 3:30 p.m. on the USJ Lacrosse Field. USJ finished 1-10 in league play in 2019.
USJ will follow it with the toughest stretch of the season; two GNAC road games on March 17 and March 21, the first against the three-time defending GNAC Champion, Johnson & Wales University. That match will be played under the lights at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletics Complex in Providence at 6:00 p.m. USJ will follow that up with a trip to Colby-Sawyer, which went an impressive 7-4 in league play last year in the Chargers' first year as a full GNAC member.
The final two non-conference contests of the season are next, before a trip to the GNAC runner-up, Norwich, on March 28, and a home match with Anna Maria on March 31. The final eight are in GNAC play, four of which will be at home, wrapping up the schedule with a trip to in-state rival Albertus Magnus College. Albertus (April 21) and Regis (April 14) will also be played under the lights.
The Blue Jays were 11th of 12 in the 2020 GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. Head coach Karen Nell came to USJ from New Fairfield Public Schools, where she spent the previous 12 seasons as the head coach of the field hockey team and the last seven seasons as the head coach of the girl's lacrosse team. Nell was extremely successful at New Fairfield, winning three-straight Class S State Championships in girl's lacrosse from 2017-2019, and back-to-back South-West Conference Championships in 2018 and 2019. In seven seasons, she compiled a record of 124-32, and was named Connecticut Class S Coach of the Year following the 2018 season.
The 2020 GNAC Tournament will get underway with quarterfinal action on Saturday, April 25. The conference semifinals are slated for Tuesday, April 28, with the highest remaining seed hosting the GNAC Championship on Saturday, May 2. The GNAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament will be at stake.
UP NEXT
The USJ women's lacrosse team opens its season on the USJ Lacrosse Field on Saturday, March 7, hosting the Wildcats of Bay Path University at 12:00 p.m.
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