The Appalachian State women’s lacrosse club team hosted the first Mountaineer Meltdown lacrosse tournament last weekend.
“We are able to invite many of our family and friends who usually would not be able to see us on the road,” said Lizzy Lagasse, president of the women’s lacrosse team. “It is also a great opportunity to show the university that we are a very active team and wear our school’s name with great pride.”
The women’s lacrosse team (9-6) is part of the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Lacrosse League, a conference with teams across North Carolina.
Teams in Appalachian’s conference decided to come to Boone and play, prompting the Mountaineers to put together a tournament.
The tournament was held over two days at Watauga High School, and despite Sunday’s snowy weather, the teams were able to play without interruption.
“We were able to pull off the first goal in the game, and that definitely pumped us up for the rest of the match,” team treasurer Emily Ayotte said. “We had the complete Boone advantage – home game and home weather.”
App State won two out of three games in the tournament, pulling out wins against Lynchburg (10-6) and NC State (15-3), falling only to UNC-Chapel Hill (2-12).
Despite this being the first tournament hosted by Appalachian women’s lacrosse, the team feels that this past weekend was a success and hopes to hold the tournament again in the future.
“It was a really awesome tournament and I was so happy that UNC, NCSU, Radford, Lynchburg, UNC-Wilmington and our alumni were able to make it,” Lagasse said. “It was also cool to have our first alumni game, and I was so happy to see so many of them come back.”
The women’s lacrosse team continues to improve every season. Now, with six games left, they reflect on their success.
“My freshman year there was such a small number of people on the team and now we have enough girls for almost two teams,” senior Summer Jones said. “We’re not just a team, we’re a family.”
Freshman Katelyn Mickelson would agree.
“I get to play the sport that I love, make new friends, and I enjoy every second of it,” she said.
Story: KAITLYN THRUSTON, Senior Sports Reporter