One of senior captain and midfielder Haile Ratajack’s highlights of her athletic experience with KSC women’s lacrosse is a seemingly unexpected one — the COVID-19 years.
Even amid the canceled and abridged seasons and masked competition throughout 2020 and 2021, Ratajack said those brought the women’s lacrosse team closer together. “It just was really fun to see how close we got in such a hard time,” she said. “I think it kind of made us a lot closer than any normal year would have.”
The Brewster, N.Y. native described her experience competing for KSC in one word: “family.” She said she felt welcomed from the moment she stepped onto campus four years ago.
“It kind of felt more than just a team,” she said. “On and off the field, we were so close. And that’s happened every year with new players coming in and out, so I just love that the program’s built such a close-knit community.”
Her first season as an Owl was shortened due to the pandemic, but Ratajack was still able to make her mark on the program, leading the team with nine goals that season and scoring a career-high four goals in a 14-1 win over Colby Sawyer College, according to the athletic department’s website.
She has continued to make an impression ever since — she had a record-breaking 2022 season, scoring 59 goals and 18 assists accounting for 77 total, tying the 10th-best single-season mark in the college’s history, according to the athletics website. She also broke the single-season school record for turnovers with 62.
Now entering her senior season and second as captain, Ratajack said there is an aspect of newness to the program, after losing seven seniors last season, a current roster including nine first-year players, and a new coach. Women’s lacrosse will be led this season by interim head coach Travis Wyant, after former head coach Katie Clark resigned last summer.
Ratajack, though, does not view this as a hindrance. “It almost feels like a rebuild,” she said. “I’m excited to see what the new players bring into our team and like the new aspect that’s gonna come out of it. I just think that it’s going to change how we play completely compared to previous years. So I’m excited to kind of shock our conference a little bit.” KSC women’s lacrosse opens its 2022 season on Tuesday, Feb. 28 against Western New England University at the Owl Athletic Complex.
Caitlin Howard can be contacted at
choward@kscequinox.com
