The KU Women’s Lacrosse team and their new head coach Kate Scattergood have been off to one of the more forgettable starts of recent Golden Bear sports memory. The Golden Bears hold a record of 2-7, just a .222 win percentage, and are a mere .200 in PSAC match-ups so far this season.
KU is currently on a 5-game losing streak, including blow-out losses at Bloomsburg with a final score of 5-12, at home against Mercyhurst in a 4-18 defeat and a home match against Gannon in which they allowed the second most goals of the season by a final of 7-19. The Golden Bears’ only worse performance was in the third game of the season against Shepherd, in which they were defeated 7-20.
With just 8 games left before the PSAC tournament begins, KU is simply looking to turn their season around and finish with a winning record, let alone qualify for post season play. This will certainly be no easy task for coach Scattergood, who, in her first season, has seen her share of challenges with this team.
This year’s Golden Bear lacrosse team has been dominated in just about every statistical category, leading to their poor performance, especially in home games.
The most obvious category in which KU clearly needs improvement is goals per game. KU has been outscored 103-59 so far this season and has netted a mere 6.59 goals per game. When compared to the opposing 11.4 goals per game, it’s easy to see why KU has been unable to rack up the wins this season. In the first period of games alone this season, KU has scored 24 goals, while allowing their opponents to double that figure, with 50 goals allowed.
The lack of goals recorded and the abundance of goals allowed is most easily traced to the amount of shots for and against KU so far this season. The Golden Bears, who have allowed an average of just under 20 shots per game (175) have recorded just under 13 of their own shots per game (113). In the first period alone, KU has been nearly doubled in shot output, with opponents shooting 86 times while KU has recorded a mere 44 shots.
The Golden Bears’ lack of offensive output can be easily traced to their lack of defensive effort, but more importantly their lack of ball handling. KU currently ranks sixth in the PSAC with 17 turnovers per game, a total of 154 on the season. While allowing just 149 turnovers so far this season, opposing teams have obviously seen the ball more than KUs offense. Many of these turnovers also lead to scoring opportunities for opposing teams, and with KU allowing 50 goals in each period so far this season, the Golden Bears are not in a position to be allowing turnovers.
With all their issues so far this season, KU sits second to last in the PSAC, having a better record than just East Stroudsburg. The Golden Bears next home game comes on April 14 against Edinboro at 1p.m.
Edinboro has yet to face KU this season, but they hold a .500 record this season, with five wins and five losses. They are just 1-4 in PSAC match-ups this season. With that record, they sit eighth in the PSAC, and with the season winding down, they are certainly looking to win as many games as possible, just as KU is looking to turn their season around.

By Nicholas Carson