Clemson Women’s Lacrosse opens with big win against Wofford

Clemson Women’s Lacrosse has begun its inaugural season, and they couldn’t have found a finer way to get things started.

The Tigers won their first regular season contest 23-1 against the Wofford Terriers. Eleven Clemson players scored in their first game played at Historic Riggs Field.

The Tigers are coached by Allison Kwolek, an eight-year veteran who formerly coached at Richmond. The conference coaches picked the Tigers to finish last in ACC play this season, but Kwolek has higher expectations.

"“A lot of people, when they think of the new program, think that it is going to take them years to be at a high level. We want to be competitive right away.”"

The squad is composed of transfers and freshmen. Graduate student Gianna New led the way with six goals, and senior Hanna Hilcoff had five goals.

Other scorers included graduate Chloe Willard (2), sophomore Miya Scanlan (2), graduate Maddy Moloney (1), senior Emma Tilson (1), graduate Marina Miller (1), graduate Jalyn Jimerson (1), graduate Starr Howard (1), freshman Sofia Chepenik (1), and graduate Belle Martire (1).

The Tiger defense only allowed eight shot attempts for the Terriers during the game. Sophomore Emily Lamparter, graduate Krissy Kowalski and freshman Ava Delyra combined to allow only one goal, scored by Wofford’s Olivia Abe.

Clemson Women’s Lacrosse will compete in an ACC that has six of ten teams ranked in the top 20 nationally

Clemson returns to the field on Wednesday against the Furman Paladins. They begin their ACC schedule in South Bend against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on February 25th.

Clemson is now the 10th ACC program. Six conference programs are ranked in the preseason top 20. The North Carolina Tar Heels are the defending national champions and are the favorites to win the league in 2023. They were undefeated in 2022.

Other ranked programs include Boston College, Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and Notre Dame. Other nationally ranked programs include Maryland, Northwestern, Stony Brook, Florida and Rutgers.

Tiger Lacrosse is the second team this week to open the season with a win following Softball’s victory on Thursday.