Northwestern Lehigh started its lacrosse programs in 2019 and then lost a season to COVID. This will be the fifth on the field for the girls team and the Tigers will have their third coach as Jess Bahnick, who played at King’s College and was an assistant coach with the team last season, takes over for Bridget Cerciello, who left after two seasons.

The fact that Bahnick is familiar with the team eases the difficulty of a coaching change as the players are familiar with her.

Being comfortable with the new coach is especially important this season since the Tigers had somewhat of a breakout season last spring as they went from a 3-15 team in 2022 to an 11-8 team last year, making their second trip to districts in program history.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the team suffered some heavy losses to graduation.

The two top leading scorers from last season, Alex Vennera (58 goals/17 assists) and Ava Collins (54 goals/14 assists) both graduated as Claire Costa (20 goals/5 assists). Goalie Gabby Gober, who was credited with 46 saves last season, has also graduated.

The task at hand for Bahnick and the Tigers is replacing the 112 goals that Vennera and Collins scored last season. Bahnick will rely on Olivia Costa, who tallied 35 goals last season, and Sydney Wright out of the attacker position. The midfield has juniors Costa, Cara Thomas and Olivia Spats all returning.

“I’m happy with how the team has looked so far,” said Bahnick. “The girls are working hard for us, and we are seeing the more experienced players help bring along the younger girls.”

To replace Gober, the Tigers turn to Emma Yanders, who saw some time in goal last season as Gober’s understudy. Yanders made 32 saves last season and has the poise and ability to take over in goal.

The defense in front of Yanders will be solid with seniors Jillian George and Jayden Gillette anchoring the team and sophomore Haley Kerschner returning after a strong season as a freshman starter for Northwestern.

“I feel like I had to be patient with myself last season because it was all new to me, but now I feel more confident on the field,” said Yanders.

With lacrosse still being relatively new at Northwestern, there are new student athletes taking up the sport every year. This year’s team has 13 freshmen players and 12 sophomores on the roster meaning that there is a lot of teaching taking place, something that Bahnick is well suited to handle.

“I really enjoy the teaching aspect of the job and it’s exciting because there are so many girls that are taking up the sport and many of them play other sports,” said Bahnick. “The sport continues to grow, and we keep stressing that our girls are starting to reach milestones with the team and that’s always fun.”

Bahnick is looking to bring along the young players that she has and get the most out of the more experienced players. She also looks to provide stability that will come with time.

“I’m really excited about the opportunity and am looking to build trust with the girls, and I hope to be here a long time to give some continuity to the program,” said Bahnick.