Clemson women’s lacrosse expects to be ‘competitive right away’ in first season

Tempting as it was to think about, Clemson women’s lacrosse coach Allison Kwolek spent the last year and half actively avoiding “the big picture.”

She had a family to move and a staff to hire, a transfer portal to peruse and a signing class to create, donors to call and funds to raise, colleagues to meet and traditions to learn. Even for a 15-year veteran who’d turned Richmond into a national power, it was a little overwhelming to think about all at once.

Not anymore.

After taking it day by day for nearly 600 days, Opening Day is almost here for the Clemson women’s lacrosse team. The Tigers will host Wofford in a nationally televised matchup Saturday afternoon at Riggs Field — and Kwolek, hired in August 2021 to build this program from scratch, is ready to show the world what the ACC’s newest program has been working on.

“A lot of people, when they think of new programs, they think it’s gonna take them years to be at a high level,” Kwolek said. “I think for us — and it’s what I said to all of them when I was recruiting them — that we want to be competitive right away. … That’s the expectation for us.”

Four of the team’s 20 transfers echoed similar sentiments while speaking with reporters Wednesday. They’ve spent the past year and change meshing as an on-field unit with an extensive fall scrimmage circuit and off it with trivia nights, group lunches and a designated team bonding committee.

Now they can send a message to the UNCs and Boston Colleges and Syracuses of the world: Despite being picked to finish an understandable 10th out of 10 teams in the country’s best women’s lacrosse conference, they’re treating Year 1 like anything but a throwaway.

“(Old teammates) think maybe we’ll win a game or two,” attacker Gianna New said. “But our eyes are set on the championship. We know that we can compete with all the top teams, and we can have a lot of wins. So I think that’s really exciting, too — kind of putting a chip on our shoulder to compete at the highest level.”

Saturday’s inaugural game at 2:30 p.m. has been a long time coming. By the time the Tigers and Terriers meet at midfield for the opening draw, it’ll have been 604 days since former Clemson director of athletics Dan Radakovich announced the program’s launch in June 2021.

Coronavirus changes plans

The university’s addition of women’s lacrosse and gymnastics teams that summer marked the end of a messy saga. Clemson initially decided to cut its men’s track and field and cross country programs in November 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The athletic department walked that decision back five months later in April 2021 amid public backlash and, following the reinstatement of the men’s programs, was legally required under Title IX legislation to add roughly 50 more “participation opportunities” for women at Clemson.

Clemson announced in June 2021 it would add women’s lacrosse and gymnastics programs to address that deficit, and by August they’d poached Kwolek — one of the top mid-major lacrosse coaches with two NCAA tournaments, two national top 10 rankings and a .800 winning percentage in eight seasons at Richmond — to lead the charge for the Tigers.

The one-time U.S. Women’s National Team defender had nearly two years before her first game as coach but no time to dilly-dally. Kwolek had a staff in place by the end of the month and an inaugural signing class by November 2021 that included the No. 43 recruit in the country.

Last summer was even more fruitful as Clemson signed nearly two dozen transfers hailing from — deep breath — Maryland, Syracuse, Louisville, UNC, Marist, Oregon, Davidson, Penn, Arizona State, Richmond, UMass, Denver, Towson, Colorado, Jacksonville and William & Mary.

Nine are undergraduate transfers, 11 are graduate transfers and all 20 bought into what was an admittedly compelling pitch from Kwolek: a fresh start, a prestigious conference and an opportunity to help Clemson do something historic — and, with the right players, special. The cherry on top was the weather.

“Pittsburgh? Very, very terrible weather,” said midfielder Marina Miller, a Pennsylvania native who played for Kwolek at Richmond. “I just keep saying I’m going further south. … I love the weather. I love it down here. So happy to be out of that gray area.”

It’s far from a group of castoffs. Notable talents include Hanna Hilcoff, an attacker who set Oregon’s record for fewest games to reach 100 goals at 37; Ella Little, a midfielder who had 24 draw controls for reigning national champion UNC last spring; and Mallory Martel, a defender with four years of starting experience at Arizona State who, along with Miller, is one of the team’s two inaugural captains.

Kwolek also likes the talents of former Colorado attacker Chloe Willard (53 goals and 37 assists in four seasons) and transfer goalies Emily Lamparter (Maryland) and Krissy Kowalski (Penn). Entering Saturday, Clemson’s final 2023 roster has 20 transfers and eight true freshmen from all walks of life — as you’d expect, their opening practice in October “wasn’t pretty,” Kwolek said.

“Now they’re in flow with each other,” she said, and she’s hoping that chemistry shows up early and often. Frankly, if Clemson’s going to be competitive in its first season like the school’s last new sport (softball) was, it needs to show up.

The journey begins

The Tigers will play six teams that were among the top 20 of the NCAA’s final rating percentage index (RPI) for women’s lacrosse, including 2022 national champion UNC and 2021 national champion Boston College. Such is life in the ACC.

“That’s how you get better,” Martel said.

But it all starts Saturday at Riggs Field, Clemson’s longtime soccer stadium that’s temporarily housing women’s lacrosse before it moves over to a glitzy new stadium and operations complex — part of a $37.5 million facilities expansion plan— on the banks of Lake Hartwell for the 2024 season.

And the anticipation is growing, Kwolek said. The energy on campus is palpable. Her players’ former teammates are organizing watch parties across the country. Fans are even emailing her directly for ticket information (in case you’re wondering, admission is free the entire season).

“And because it’s going to be on the ACC Network, it’s really broadcasting the game to the lacrosse community so they can see what Clemson is all about,” Kwolek said. “I’m excited — and I know that I’ll settle down — but it’s gonna be a whirlwind.”

Clemson 2023 women’s lacrosse schedule

• Feb. 11: vs. Wofford, 2:30 p.m., ACC Network

• Feb. 15: vs. Furman, 4 p.m.

• Feb. 18: at Winthrop, noon

• Feb. 22: vs. Gardner-Webb, 4 p.m.

• Feb. 25: at Notre Dame, 1 p.m.

• March 3: at Virginia, 5 p.m.

• March 5: at Longwood, noon

• March 8: vs. Campbell, 4 p.m.

• March 11: vs. Duke, noon

• March 16: vs. Boston College, 4 p.m.

• March 19: vs. Radford, 1 p.m.

• March 22: vs. Presbyterian, 4 p.m.

• March 26: at UNC, 2 p.m.

• April 1: vs. Louisville, 1 p.m.

• April 8: at Syracuse, 2 p.m.

• April 15: at Virginia Tech, noon

• April 20: vs. Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.