PITTSBURGH, Pa (PTTP) – The Pitt Women’s Lacrosse team played their inaugural game this past Friday at Highmark Stadium.
Taking on the Duquesne Dukes, this day has been highly anticipated for many since November First, 2018, when athletics director Heather Lyke announced the addition of a varsity lacrosse program. The panther ladies are scheduled to play 17 regular-season games, eight of those being ACC play. During the seventeen-game schedule, the Panthers will travel to North Carolina, New York, Indiana and Virginia.
The team is headed by Emily Boissonneault, and assistants Haley Hicklen and Gregg Gebhard.
Boissonneault, a Detroit mercy WLAX alum, is an accomplished player herself, frequently being called up to the Canadian National WLAX Team. Before making the move to Pittsburgh in 2019, Boissonneault spent the past four seasons with the James Madison Dukes helping them to three Colonial Athletic Association Conference Championships, four NCAA championship appearances, and the 2018 National Championship, according to Boissonneault’s biography.
The inaugural team is made up of thirty-eight ladies ranging from freshman to graduate students. Boasting many titles, the panthers feature multiple All-America honors, national team appearances, two of the top fifteen transfers to watch, one preseason All-ACC player. The Panthers were selected ninth in the ACC preseason poll according to Pitt Athletics.
As a coach Boissonneault hopes to create well-rounded players, “obviously, I love lacrosse, and I want us to win and that is a huge part of our goals for this year. At the same time, I think the only way for us to be successful is to make sure we are developing ourselves in and around the sport as well – academically, culturally, within the community. Everything we do, we talk about being the best version of ourselves and making sure that we are doing things integrity first. At the end of the day, we are a family and it’s important that we are looking at the whole person and not just a lacrosse player.”
Number 12, Kierin Ratliff-Kailbourne, is a new member of the DI team. Ratliff was originally a player on the club team at Pitt but made the transition to the DI team after the announcement was made. This season Ratliff hopes to end things on a positive note, “being a new program in the acc, I think it is going to be super special to enjoy every game,” said Kierin.
The Panthers took the field by storm last Friday, battling the Duquesne Dukes all the way into overtime to capture their first win in program history. Ratliff-Kailbourne was a key player throughout the game, scoring the team’s first-ever goal and four out of the nine goals scored in the game. Kierin’s performance earned her the honor of student-athlete of the week alongside Ithiel Thorton from men’s basketball.
Chloe Jones, Paige Petty, Kate Elam, and Carlie Leach also netted goals to contribute to the win.
There are two chances this weekend to see Pitt lacrosse in action. They take on Siena tonight at 5:00 PM and St. Bonaventure Sunday at 12:00 Pm. Don’t forget, admission is free for all during the inaugural season!