After six years coaching the Pilots, Coach Tom O’Connor has stepped down and Coach Ryn Marcel has taken over Head Coach duties. During Coach Tom’s time at UP, the club expanded its roster, developed a positive club culture, consistently made the league championship game, and competed at WCLA Nationals in 2022 and 2023.
“I will miss coaching these wonderful young women,” said O’Connor. “Ryn was a huge part of our success and culture building as a player, club officer, and last year as an assistant coach. Ryn will be a wonderful Head Coach and I’m looking forward to seeing where they lead the program.”
The Portland Pilots women’s lacrosse team traveled to Virginia Beach from May 8-12 to play in the WCLA National Championship Tournament, the second year in a row the team has gone to Nationals. Despite some key players not making the trip and NWWLL leading scorer Hannah Kelly not able to play due to injury, the Pilots played hard in losses to University of Vermont, CSU San Marcos, and Portland State. On the final day the Pilots won their first ever game at Nationals, a hard fought 7-5 win over a much improved team from Pacific Lutheran. On the awards front, seven players received WCLA All-Academic recognition: Hannah Kelly, Caroline Sanders, LeeAhnna Kenny, Julia Hettinger, Klaryssa Yap, Meghan Andrus, and Caroline Arceneaux. Even bigger news was two Pilots were named by USA Lacrosse as WCLA Division 2 Second-Team All-Americans, Hannah Kelly (Attack) and Caroline Sanders (Goaltender), congratulations to both of them! GO PILOTS!
The University of Portland Pilots hosted the Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League Regionals on April 15/16 and it was a weekend of emotional highs and one heartbreaking low. In addition to the semifinal and championship games described below, several Pilots were honored with NWWLL Awards: Hannah Kelly, Leading Scorer (goals and assists); Caroline Sanders, Goalie Co-MVP; Jamie Allen, Defense MVP; Meghan Andrus, Most Caused Turnovers.
On Saturday the Pilots faced off against cross-town rival Portland State University in a matchup of nationally ranked teams. Down 9-6 at the start of the fourth quarter, the U Portland defense and goaltending shut down PSU’s goal scoring and the Pilots scored three goals to send the game to overtime. Team Captain and goalie Caroline Sanders made three huge saves in overtime, and the Pilots were able to score the winning goal when Team Captain Hannah Kelly was tripled by the defense, passed to wide-open Team Captain Meghan Andrus in front of the PSU goal, and Andrus buried the Pilots only overtime shot for a thrilling 10-9 win!
On Sunday the Pilots faced #1 seed Montana State, also a nationally ranked team, in the championship game. Tied 4-4 in the second quarter, led by two goals from league leading scorer Hannah Kelly, things turned serious in an instant when Kelly went down hard in the midfield with a serious shoulder injury, received medical care on the field, and was sent off to the hospital with team staff and family. Unfortunately, this was a season and college career ending injury, truly heartbreaking news. The Pilots rallied and went ahead for a few minutes but Montana State is a strong, deep team and they pulled away for a 9-7 win – congratulations to the MSU Bobcats on a great season. With the WCLA National Tournament conflicting with academic finals for Montana State, they declined the league automatic qualifier bid and the Pilots gladly accepted as the NWWLL representative.
The University of Portland Pilots finished the season with a national ranking of #11 and are going to WCLA Nationals for the second year in a row, an accomplishment made even more remarkable by the fact the team only had seven returning players from last year! If you’d like to support the Pilots fundraising effort as they gear up to head to Virginia Beach from May 8-12, you can donate by clicking here. GO PILOTS!
The University of Portland Pilots Women’s Lacrosse Club will host the Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League (NWWLL) Division 2 Regional Tournament on April 15th and 16th on the Franz River Campus turf field. The Pilots go into Regionals as the #3 seed in the league behind #1 seed Montana State University and #2 seed Portland State University. The tournament field is rounded out by #4 seed Pacific Lutheran University. The winner will receive an automatic qualifier spot in the Women’s College Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) National Tournament held in Virginia Beach from May 9-12.
Northwest teams have drawn attention in the WCLA Division 2 national rankings this season, with Montana State currently ranked #9, Portland State ranked #13, and University of Portland ranked #14. Read all about it here in this USA Lacrosse Magazine article.
NWWLL Regional Tournament Schedule:
Saturday, April 15: 1:00pm, Portland State vs. University of Portland / 4:00pm, Montana State vs. Pacific Lutheran
Sunday, April 16: 9:00am, Championship game / 11:30am, League Awards / 1:00pm, Consolation game
Congratulations to lacrosse club member Kaya Olson for being elected as President of the Associated Students of the University of Portland for the 2023-24 school year! Kaya is a sophomore from Bellevue, Washington and double majoring in Education and Political Science. Click here to read all about it the UP Beacon.
Seniors Hannah Kelly, Sophie Heiden, Caroline Sanders, Meghan Andrus, and Klaryssa Yap
No fooling, April 1st was a great day of lacrosse as the University of Portland Pilots women’s lacrosse team hosted Portland State University and University of Idaho. Between games the Pilots honored our five Seniors: Captain Meghan Andrus, Captain Hannah Kelly, Captain Caroline Sanders, Sophie Heiden, and Klaryssa Yap. They will be missed!
The first game was the head-to-head match everyone had been waiting for as the #14 nationally ranked Pilots took on the #12 ranked PSU Vikings. UP jumped out to a 4-1 lead after one quarter, then the Vikings stormed back to lead 7-6 at halftime. After three quarters, PSU led 9-8 and the Vikings took charge early in the 4th quarter to extend their lead to 11-8. The Pilots raised their battle level again and scored the next three goals to tie the game 11-11 and send it to overtime. The Vikings were able to come up with the opening draw in overtime and go to settled offense, draw a shooting space foul, and score on a free position shot for the 12-11 win. This game featured some great offensive work by Pilots senior Captain Hannah Kelly (2G-3A), freshman Julia Hettinger (3G), senior Captain Meghan Andrus (2G), and 4 goals by junior Phoebe Omweg including the game-tying goal in the last minute of regulation. The Pilot low defense featured strong performances by freshmen Caroline Arceneaux, Jamie Allen, Lydia Hurcomb, and sophomore Claire DeBarro. Senior Captain Caroline Sanders had a stellar day in goal with 17 saves against a very talented PSU offense. Bottom line, this was a remarkable and competitive lacrosse game, congrats to the Vikings on the win.
The second game of the day saw eight different Pilots score in a 13-4 win over the visiting University of Idaho Vandals. Every Pilot saw plenty of playing time and the team celebrated first-ever collegiate goals by Jamie Allen and sophomore Ale Cabanillas-Morey. The Vandals brought some good offense and freshman goalie LeAhnna Kenny was up to the task with an impressive 13-save performance.
Next up for the Pilots is a non-league game against NAIA Multnomah University on April 11th. The Pilots then host the Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League D2 Regionals on April 15 and 16, where they will face PSU again in the semifinals on Saturday. Montana State and Pacific Lutheran play in the other semifinal, with the winners of each game meeting in the NWWLL championship game on Sunday.
The Portland Pilots women’s lacrosse team traveled north to Tacoma on March 18 to take on Northwest Nazarene University and Pacific Lutheran University, two Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League opponents. The team was shorthanded for this trip, missing seven players, which led to significant playing time for several newer Pilots.
After not playing a game for six weeks due to inclement weather, the Pilots unleashed their offense against NNU and built a 7-0 lead in the first quarter en route to a 17-2 win. Senior Captain Hannah Kelly led the offense with 8 goals and an assist, senior Captain Meghan Andrus scored 4 goals, and freshman Julia Hettinger had 3 goals, an assist, and an impressive 7 draw controls. The team was thrilled when sophomore AJ Jatta scored her first lacrosse goal ever! Though Portland had a significant advantage in possession time, the Pilot’s defense and goaltending were very strong when NNU was on offense.
The second game of the day was a tougher battle against home team PLU, especially with tired legs. At halftime Portland led 4-2 thanks to some great goaltending by senior Captain Caroline Sanders and outstanding low defense by freshman Jamie Allen, freshman Caroline Arceneaux, and sophomore Gabi Gonsales-Cruz. The Pilots showed their resilience in the second half, outscoring the Lutes 7-2 for a final score of 11-4, with Hannah Kelly having another impressive 8-goal performance while her teammates struggled to score. Junior Captain Kayden Baziak was a calming force on low offense with a goal and 2 assists.
The Pilots next game action is on April 1st, hosting league rival Portland State and the University of Idaho. There will be a ceremony before the PSU game to honor our five graduating Seniors!
All Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League games scheduled at Portland State University on February 25th and 26th were called off due to weather as PSU’s Stott Field was still covered with significant ice and snow from an earlier storm. Several Pilot players and team staff went over to help PSU’s team try and clear the field for Saturday evening games, but temperatures weren’t high enough to get the needed snow melt. Teams from Central Washington University and Seattle University were already in Portland when the decision was made to cancel the games, so a meeting was held at a restaurant near PSU’s field and Captains from all the teams worked with NWWLL President Krista Busby to try and reschedule as many games as possible. Schedule updates will be posted as soon as we know more!
The University of Portland women’s lacrosse team had an amazing trip to the Santa Barbara Shootout in Southern California from February 2-5, winning two of their three games. After a lopsided loss on Saturday morning against a VERY good team from Santa Barbara City College, the Pilots rebounded in the afternoon and beat Cal State Northridge 12-3. On Sunday the Pilots led from start to finish in a 12-6 win against Weber State. Fifteen of 21 team members were playing in their first ever games at the college club level!
The off-field team bonding was in high gear, with a trip to Ostrich Land USA, lunch in the Danish style mountain town of Solvang, a beach sunset, shared rooms and meals, evening walks for ice cream, and plenty of time for naps and homework. We couldn’t have scripted a better team road trip….GO PILOTS!
The University of Portland Pilots women’s lacrosse team had an outstanding 2022 Fall Ball season! Twice a week practice sessions led up to a scrimmage against Pacific Lutheran on November 12th, and scrimmages at Oregon State University on November 19th against OSU and Portland State University. The most important accomplishments of Fall Ball were recruiting and welcoming new players, as the club added 17 new faces and goes into the 2023 season with a roster of 25, including 10 first-years and eight sophomores!
The Pilots will be on the field again when UP goes back into session the third week of January. They will be picking up the pace in preparation for a first-time trip to the Santa Barbara Shootout the first weekend of February, where they will face Santa Barbara Community College, Cal State Northridge, and Weber State. The Pilots begin their eight-game 2023 Northwest Women’s Lacrosse League season in mid-February, facing arch-rival Portland State (twice), Central Washington University, Seattle University, Northwest Nazarene University, Pacific Lutheran, University of Idaho, and Washington State University. The Pilots will also be hosting the NWWLL Division 2 Regional Tournament on the third weekend of April, with the winner qualifying for WCLA National Tournament in Virginia Beach from May 9-12.
“It’s exciting to have so many new players on the team this year, with some brand new to the sport and many with years of lacrosse experience,” said Head Coach Tom O’Connor. After going 7-1 in the 2022 regular season and making the National Tournament, the bar has been set high for the Pilots. “We had a great team in 2022 but graduated 11 players – there are many opportunities for returning and new players to step up and fill key roles this year.”
University of Portland Pilots Women's Lacrosse 