Auburn Club Women's Lacrosse Team traveled to Clemson, S.C., for the Southern Comfort Tournament.
Auburn beat Elon 6-5 in its first game as a team Saturday at 3 p.m.
The team lost to Clemson 11-4 and 4-3 Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Virginia Tech, last year's national champions, went on to win the tournament.
"We beat (Clemson) last year to go to the championship in double overtime," said co-captain Liz Boyd, a senior in economics and supply chain management who has been playing lacrosse for seven years.
As a result of the upset, Clemson was its biggest rival at the tournament, Boyd said.
"Saturday, (Clemson) just got a lead on us," said Meredith Noulis, a defensive co-captain and senior in human development and family studies who has been playing lacrosse since middle school. "We weren't there and we were tired, and (Sunday) we were just pumped to play them, and if we just had a few more minutes we would have come back to win."
The team has 10 new players this year, compared to 15 returning players, four of which were not able to attend this weekend, including co-captain junior Katie Baker, who is studying abroad in Italy this semester, Noulis said.
Boyd said the team has been practicing together for a month and a half.
"It was our first game to play with all the new people this year," Boyd said.
The biggest problem Saturday night was finding a good chemistry with so many new players this early in the year, Noulis said.
"Since we had such a tight-knit team last year, we just have to learn how to work together," Noulis said. "We basically had a brand new offense."
The goalie, junior Staci Busbin, was a key part of every game, Noulis said.
The team does not have a coach, so Boyd, Noulis and Baker function as captains and players.
"It was a pretty big difference playing in high school and having a coach, and then coming to college and having a peer as your coach," Noulis said.
Coaches have the advantage of being able to see the game from the sideline, so they can see what needs to be worked on and who is getting tired or needs a sub, Noulis said.
"As a team, it's hard for the captains to be a player as well as a coach, so we really rely on everyone to put their two cents in," Boyd said. "It's really an entire team effort."
The team plays home games in the city field on Shug Jordan Parkway.
Noulis said she expects the team to perform better in the spring.
"After this weekend we played together for the first time and we all bonded together as a team," Boyd said. "We were missing a couple of our returning players so we'll be excited to get them back and play as a team."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
