Varsity Lacrosse is shaping up to be one of the most highly anticipated events of the series, with the ladies game kicking off at 2pm and the men’s at 4pm.
The University of Nottingham’s lacrosse program is rapidly emerging as one of the best in the UK. Both the men’s and ladies’ 1st teams had impressive campaigns this year, and fielding 4 teams for both men and women, lacrosse is one of the university’s most popular sports.
Men’s
Many are excited to see two of the country’s best men’s lacrosse teams – Nottingham Trent and the University of Nottingham – compete for bragging rights in the city.
Losing 21-3 to Durham in the BUCS championship, the men’s season came to an abrupt end after reaching the national semi-finals. Durham went on to defeat UoN’s Varsity opponents, Nottingham Trent, by a score of 13-5 at BUCS Big Wednesday on March 27th.
“Nottingham’s 1st team finished 3rd in the BUCS Premier North, just one place behind bitter rivals Trent.”
We spoke to Harold, who said “It’s definitely going to be a really good game to watch” and “we’ll go into it as prepared as we can to give ourselves the best opportunity to win”.
A Familiar Opponent
Nottingham’s 1st team finished 3rd in the BUCS Premier North, just one place behind bitter rivals Trent. The two sides have already met twice this season, with one win a piece. Despite losing 9-7 at home to Trent on 21st November, the Green and Gold managed to get the better of Trent in a nail-biting 13-12 victory on 5th December.
Varsity will be the ultimate decider between these two teams, and considering that this is a free event, there’s no excuse not to be there!
Ladies’
Meanwhile, the women’s lacrosse 1st team also enjoyed a prosperous season, finishing 2nd in the BUCS Premier North to recently crowned national champions Durham. And despite winning eight of their 10 games during the regular season, the team had higher aspirations in mind.
“the ladies’ team remain one of the strongest in the country”
Unfortunately, Nottingham lost 10-6 to Oxford in the quarterfinals at the BUCS headliner in February, but will look to recapture their scintillating form during the regular season at Clifton Campus on Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the ladies’ team remain one of the strongest in the country, and will expect to seek some consolation against Trent this week. UoN are heavily favoured to beat Trent, who finished 3rd, down in the Midlands 1A division.
We spoke to a scholar in the squad, Laura, who told us “we’re coming into Varsity confident and wanting to prove a point”. She commented, “it’s intense and different from BUCS, but I think we’re a confident team”, and said of her rivals “they’ll want to come in as the under-dogs and relish that challenge.”
All in all…
Both teams should feel optimistic heading into Wednesday’s varsity fixtures. Whatever the result, both teams impressed many during their 2018/19 campaigns, as lacrosse at the University of Nottingham is in an enviable position.
Entry at Clifton Campus will open at 1pm – make sure not to miss the premier event in this year’s varsity series!
Rory Jones
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Featured image courtesy of The University of Nottingham, via Flickr.
