Sixteen might be a lucky number for the W&L Women’s Lacrosse team in the 2016 season. Currently ranked number sixteen in the IWLCA’s DIII Preseason Poll, the Generals’ goal is to make it past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament and build off of last season’s sixteenth ODAC championship.

The 2016 team is somewhat inexperienced in playing together with eleven newly-recruited first-years, five juniors returning to W&L after spending last semester abroad and two juniors that play different sports in the fall.

“We’re working on getting comfortable with each other on the field since many of us have never played together before. We’re just trying to get used to how other people like to play right now. Our success the past two seasons likely had a big effect on how many first-years we got this year” midfielder Olivia Sisson, ‘17, said.

Even with so many new faces seeing each other for the first time this semester, one area where the Generals have greatly improved since last season is depth. Last year, the team only had 23 players on its roster, this year it has 31.

“Our team is huge this year which is exciting because we know we can give 100 percent while we’re on the field and get a break when we need one. We had a ton of injuries and a smaller team last year, so we’re really excited for that” midfielder Hayley Soutter, ‘17, said.

The team is excited for its upcoming season and are already seeing positive results at practice.

“Everyone is always excited to go to practice and we have a lot of inter-grade friendships on the team. The upperclassmen are all close friends which trickles down to the rest of the team,” Soutter said.

The Generals will play eight regular-season games in Lexington, which Soutter says is one of her favorite things about being a General.

“Lots of our parents and friends come, so it’s just a really fun atmosphere to play in. It’s nice to host our opponent and play on a field that we’re familiar with,” Soutter said.

The schedule is also getting a changeup as the Generals will face new opponents in Haverford and Gettysburg. Nobody on the team has ever faced either team.

“We’re really excited to play Haverford and Gettysburg. They’re new competition for us since we haven’t played them since we’ve been at W&L,” Sisson said.

On their goals for the season, Sisson and Soutter agreed that they are shooting to make it past the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament and win their seventh ODAC crown in a row.

The Generals will open their season against Mary Washington on Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. on Watt Field in Lexington.