Afternoon means practice for women's lacrosse team

It's 3:45 p.m. and Anne Colella is lacing up her Nikes on a bench in Mackal Field House. Colella, 21, is a senior and a member of the divisional powerhouse women's lacrosse team.

"We have a big tournament coming up this weekend," Colella said between stretching. "If we win this weekend, we go to nationals."

The big tournament she spoke of is the New England Championship. With a regular season record of 9-1, Colella and her teammates are heavy favorites going into this tournament.

There they will square off against Coast Guard and then, if victorious, they will face the winner of Boston College vs. Northeastern.

"Boston College gave us our only loss," Colella explained with some distaste. "But it was a close game that we should have won."

It's 4 o'clock and the team starts its 30-minute run around the track. They run at a speedy 7:30-mile pace and push one another for the entire workout.

"The enthusiasm is always high with us," Colella explained later. After the run, the team brings it in to knock out some push-ups and sit-ups.

Colella has played college lacrosse for four years. Her freshman and sophomore years were spent on the Colby Sawyer team in New Hampshire. Her last two years have been here. Both schools' teams compete at the club-sport level.

A lot is riding on this weekend, especially for Colella and the four other seniors on the team. "We're going to make it to nationals," Colella said with confidence.

Win or lose, the future looks bright for the team. Along with a good group of juniors and sophomores, they've picked up some unexpected depth from the freshmen on the team.

"The freshman class is strong," Colella said. "There are 10 girls and a few of them are already starting."

It's now 5 p.m. and the team has finished practice. There is some excitement as new warm-ups are distributed to the players. The sweatshirts are navy blue with "U.R.I. Women's Lacrosse" written across the front. The sweatpants, T-shirts and shorts are grey with similar logos.

Anne Colella and her teammates hope they can wear their new apparel for another couple weeks.