Rangers celebrate 25-year anniversary, hunt another deep playoff run in 2024

Feb 26 | By: David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

DENVER, Colo. — The Regis University women's lacrosse team has come a long way since its inception in 2000. As a start-up program, the Rangers had to wait two seasons before registering the program's first victory and 11 years to post the first winning season (12-2) in 2011.

Fast forward to 2024, as the Rangers get ready to celebrate their 25^th anniversary, and the program is the standard out west. Under the guidance of head coach Sarah Kellner, Regis has ascended to perennial powers on the national scene coming off of six straight NCAA Division II Tournament appearances and four straight RMAC regular season and tournament championships.

Kellner and the Rangers want to celebrate the program's rich tradition, and the hundreds of Regis alums who had a hand in the building process, through their 2024 campaign that is set to get underway this Friday and Saturday out in Florida against (RV) Florida Tech and No. 5 Florida Southern.

"I've been so fortunate to be a part of Regis lacrosse for 18 of these 25 seasons. We're hoping to get a lot of alumni back this spring where hopefully their family and friends get to celebrate them and what we've accomplished over 25 years," Kellner said. "With our team, we want to integrate our alumni and build those relationships and network of support. Whether it's supporting us on the field or the next step in our student-athletes careers, when they put the stick down, of supporting these young women in the next stage of their lives."

LOCKED AND LOADED
Preseason picked No. 1 in the RMAC Coaches' poll, and sitting at No. 8 in the IWLCA Coaches' Poll released earlier this week, the Rangers are once again poised to be contenders on the regional and national levels again in 2024.

Regis welcomes back 18 members of its 2023 RMAC championship winning squad, including All-American midfielder Bailey Truex and the RMAC's Midfielder of the Year in Lily Ferguson. The duo posted career seasons last spring as Truex led Regis with 54 goals and 62 total points, while Ferguson added 31 goals, 51 points and a team-best 91 draw controls.

"We have a great group of returners who have tasted a lot of success, which is a product of their own doing. They work extremely hard at what they do," Kellner said. "Bailey Truex is one of the most competitive people I've ever come encountered with and she holds herself to a really high standard. Lily is a tremendous athlete and an extremely thoughtful leader."

Truex and Ferguson are just the tip of the spear, though, as the Rangers bring back a wave of experience that includes their assists leader in attacker Gabby Rothermund, 30-goal scorers in sophomore Shea Murphy and Madeline Schallmoser, both members of the team's goalkeeper tandem in Elizabeth Myotte and Brigit Goetsch, and a defensive back line that returners experienced starters in graduate student Sarah Hanson and junior Terah Skillings.

Kellner added she believes there are a handful of other returners who came off the bench in 2023 who will continue to take steps forward and play meaningful roles again this spring, such as sophomore midfielder Maggie Schipfer, juniors Justine Spahr, Kaitlynn Lazaro, Emily Spaeth, Soonja Coomes and Becky Goetsch as well as senior Tia Krats.

"I think with all our players having a couple years of experience, understanding out strategies and methods, they are a lot more comfortable now. They've had some great leaders come before them and they are putting the work in," Kellner said. "Maggie Schipfer is going to have an incredible sophomore season. Madeline is going to be a big help to our defensive midfield position while also being capable of putting the ball in the net. And we also have a few transfers who came in that we're really excited about too."

NEWCOMERS
Adding to their firepower, the Rangers welcomed in four transfers in junior Megan Bunker, the PSAC West Freshman of the Year and nation's leading draw control winner from Seton Hill; sophomore Gabrielle Beals, who scored 25 goals for Tiffin in 2023; sophomore attacker Lauren Sheets, a First Team Al-GLIAC player at Concordia St. Paul; and true freshman Evie Tanella out of Castle Rock, who was drawing Division I offers before returning back to the state at semester.

"We're excited about our new players. Megan comes to us from a really strong conference and has a lot of experience on the field. She has really fit in well with our team from Day One," Kellner said. "Lauren is another transfer we're really excited about. She has a lot of height and her stick is phenomenal. She'll be a great target for us inside the 8-meter and a really strong finisher. And then we have another freshman transfer in Evie Tanella. She is a phenomenal athlete who is originally from Arizona, but has been in Colorado now for a little bit. She gets to come home and we think Regis will be a great place for her."

Tanella is one of three true freshmen on the Regis roster, flanked by midfielder Lexie Springman and defenseman Abby Mays; all three of whom Kellner said could play immediate impacts this season.

"One thing we're really excited about, and hope to catch some teams by surprise with this year, is the amount of depth we have," Kellner said. "Our freshman that are coming in have the ability to really make an impact this year."

STAYING PRESENT
During a magical run that has seen the Rangers not only rack up eight total RMAC Championships, and post a record of 70-7 since 2019, Regis has preached the importance of staying in the moment and turning the page to the next task at hand.

It's a mantra the team will practice when they open the 2024 season this Friday at 5 p.m. Mountain against (RV) Florida Tech and try to perfect as they move through RMAC conference play this spring, beginning on the road Sunday, March 24^th against the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

And if they are able to perfect it, the Rangers are hoping to once again be playing lacrosse long into the month of May when the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament action gets underway May 17-19.

"This year's team is extremely motivated not only by last year's success but with the idea of making it their own. Their goal is to take each day as it comes, one game at a time, and we hope to be playing well into May," Kellner said. "But we know we've got to do the right things this time of year, as well. Each team every year has wanted to chase greatness. What we try to talk about is 'excellence,' and that's not comparing ourselves to other people or necessarily results oriented. It's focusing on ourselves as individuals and as a team. We try to be dialed in each day, each moment and treat it really special."

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories