Amanda Wilson and the Big Red will open the season on March 15 against Ft. Lewis College in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The Big Red women's lacrosse team will open play in just under two weeks and when they do they will take the field with a balanced squad led by four seniors determined to capture the program's 16th North Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

Head coach Stephani Brzezowski is back for her ninth year leading the Big Red and she will have to do it without 2009 all-region honorees Quinn Simmons, Haley Stineman and Meg Wilcox who graduated last May.

This year's team will be strongest in the back thanks to all-region defenders Bethany Keller (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Katie Kubasta (Medina, Ohio/Medina). Both were All-NCAC honorees in 2008 and were named to the conference's all-tournament team.  They will be joined in the starting lineup by one of the team's hardest workers, junior Flannery Marley (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and freshman Alyssa Zinsser (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest).  Also returning to the team fresh off earning a conference championship as a part of the Denison women's basketball team is junior Jackie Pachuta (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) who provides strength and speed off the bench.

In the cage for the second-straight season is senior Amanda Wilson (Hudson, Ohio/Western Reserve) who posted 149 saves while starting all 15 games a year ago.  She has also dedicated herself in the weight room and was recently honored as Denison's Strength & Conditioning Female Athlete of the Year.  Brzezowski thinks Wilson is primed for a great senior season.

"Amanda's save percentage doesn't represent everything that she brings to the team. She led our team in ground balls and has been working hard on her technique," stated Brzezowski.

The defensive wings return two talented players in sophomore Lulu Carter (Greenwich, Conn./The Millbrook School) and senior Michelle Bennett (Bronx, N.Y./Taft).  Carter played in all 14 games and scored six goals while Bennett played in all 15 games and was second in draws (21) and third in ground balls (24).

"We are a different team when Lulu is on the field," noted Brzezowski. "Her play is contagious."

Despite losing Simmons who led the team in draws Denison has plenty of depth in the possession game.  First-year Carly Tschantz (Omaha, Neb./New Trier) along with Bennett, Alex Thurner (Cincinnati, Ohio/Summit Country Day), Caroline Gully (Barrington Hills, Ill./Barrington) and Olivia Shiland (South Hamilton, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham) will all help with the draw control duties in 2009.

In the midfield Phoebe Myhrum (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) got extended playing time last year and looks ready to make a giant leap as a sophomore. Myhrum could be just the player to replace the scoring punch (138 goals) provided by Simmons from this position over the last four years. Sophomore Kelly Lengsfield (Rye, N.Y./Rye Country Day) will also see time in the midfield after scoring four goals a season ago.

"Out of anyone on the team her improvement has been the most noticeable. I think Phoebe is going to have a great year," said Brzezowski.

The rest of the depth in the midfield is going to come from a talented freshman class led by former high school All-American, Tschantz, and Thurner.  Both have a strong chance of starting their college careers in the starting lineup.

Three other freshman in Charlotte Werner (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier), Gully and Molly Sprega (Portland, Maine/Deering) will also get extended looks in the midfield.

On attack senior Lindsay Howard and sophomores Jenny Strathern (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and Sara Langsam (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Friends) are back after combining for 47 goals last year.  Brzezowski has loads of depth up front and the preseason will be all about discovering a lineup from a group of eight players.  Also a part of that mix is junior Megan Lafferty (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) and first-year's, Cassedy O'Neill (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Prep), Lisa Feroli (Baltimore, Md./McDonagh) and Liz Haughton (Princeton, N.J./Princeton).

Denison will open their season with a spring break trip to Colorado Springs, Colo. where they will take on Ft. Lewis, Fontbonne and Colorado College.  The team's first five games will be on the road before opening their home schedule on April 2 against Kenyon College at 4:30 p.m.  Two of their five home games are scheduled for a live audio broadcast over the Denison Sports Network through Teamline.  Those games are April. 2 versus Kenyon and April 19 versus Ohio Wesleyan.