Rutgers Women’s Lacrosse Head Coach Melissa Lehman hosted a pre-NCAA tournament press conference to talk about the team as they head to the national tournament for the third time in six years and just the fourth time in program history.
The first question that was asked during the press conference was what it felt like to be back in the NCAA tournament, and if she had any thoughts about their upcoming opponent, Princeton.
“Well, we are so excited. This is actually the first time since 2022. So, for
all the girls on this team, this is their first opportunity going to the tournament. It means a lot for this group. They’ve been working really, really hard the last couple of years. This year, you know, it was just extra motivation. So couldn’t be more proud of this group, especially these seniors who are truly the leaders of this program.”
This upcoming matchup will be Rutgers’ second matchup against Princeton this season. In their first matchup back in February, the Tigers took down the Knights 15-9. In reviewing the film from the last matchup, Lehman stressed the need to be in control of the game, winning the draw controls and possessions, and controlling the game on offense properly, and creating the opportunities they are looking for. On top of that, she stressed competing throughout all four quarters because it was a poor second quarter that put the Knights in a rut they struggled to climb out of
Lehman got the chance to speak on the five Rutgers players who were named to the all-Big Ten team recently, and how crucial they were to getting the tournament birth.
“Yeah, that was a great honor for our team, for our program, and being recognized. I think that for the two that got selected to the first and second team, Caroline Ling and Katie Buck, they deserved it. They put up the points. They were a force as an attacker, Caroline Ling with 90 points, tying our program record for a single season. And so I’m just so proud of her, and Katie Buck really has done so much for us on the field. She has 157 draw controls, leads our team as a defender, as well as causing turnovers and ground balls. So I think just their performance and their play earned that, but they’d also be the first ones to say they need the team with them. And I’m so glad that we got the three freshmen named to the all freshmen team. We do have a lot of youth on our team with freshmen and sophomores out there. If you look at our roster and you see that, and those players are on the field for us, but they were able to do what they did because of the team and the culture and the belief that the upperclassmen give them. Freshmen don’t just come out there on the field and don’t do that if they don’t feel that they can do that on their team. And that speaks a lot to the seniors of this team and the culture that they’ve set. They want them; they know they need them to perform.”
After Lehman spoke, members of the media got to speak to several of the athletes, including Caroline Ling, Lily Dixon, and Katie Buck.
To view the entire press conference, click here.
