USF Women’s Lacrosse face-off to start public exhibition against Florida Southern Mocs.
Photo by Vanessa Wenzl | The Crow’s Nest
By Vanessa Wenzl
Women’s college lacrosse made its public debut in the Tampa Bay area at the University of South Florida on Oct. 28.
The Bulls’ lacrosse team went public with its exhibition game at the Corbett Stadium led by head coach Mindy McCord. The team played two back-to-back games against Saint Leo University followed by another match up with Florida Southern.
It was the first time fans could see USF’s 20th varsity sport.
In 2021, USF announced the inclusion of women’s lacrosse and the hiring of coach McCord in May 2022.
Coach McCord comes from Jacksonville University after leading the women’s lacrosse team to national notability and appearing in the NCAA eight times.
McCord has 21 season and conference tournaments under her belt already upon arrival to the Bay.
“We are excited to share the rules of the game with the fans and you know it’s a high scoring game, you saw a lot of goals out there,” coach McCord said in the post-game press conference.
The team is made up of mainly freshman, but among them is one veteran transfer from Clemson University, sophomore attack Sofia Chepenik.
Chepenik has Division 1 lacrosse experience coming from Clemson with 53 points and 33 goals.
Being no stranger to victory, Chepenik earned ACC’a All Freshman team and All-Academic Team honors.
“We come out every day with a sense of urgency that we are going to be competing for a national championship, and even though it’s a year and a half away, we still compete every day like we’re playing for a national championship,” Chepenik said.
The team may have competed publicly for the first time, but the scores matter in a different way until the season officially starts.
“It’s for us, it’s about getting film, and it’s about teaching, it’s about getting experience,” coach McCord said. “So, we get to build on that.”
The road to a national championship is a year and a half away for the team, but that’s not stopping the road to victory for Bulls.
“You know, we get to go back out and get after it again and because the sport really doesn’t count for us this year, like our practices and these opportunities are our national championship without the pressure of the score,” coach McCord said.
The USF women’s lacrosse team will not start their official season until spring 2025.
