Season Preview: Can Ladies Lacrosse Regain National Championship?

Nottingham Ladies Lacrosse will look to regain their national championship title after losing out in a North vs South repeat at Loughborough on BUCS Big Wednesday.

After going unbeaten in the Northern league, despite facing sporting heavyweights like Loughborough and Durham, Nottingham descended on Loughborough at BUCS Big Wednesday hoping for a repeat of the previous season’s 12-3 thrashing of Exeter in the final. However, despite a late comeback, they saw themselves fall 1 point short of forcing a golden goal.

Coming off the back of a convincing final victory in the National Championship the year before, Notts kept that momentum going all throughout the season. Convincingly beating Trent and Birmingham in the start of the year set the tone for a truly monumental season from the Green and Gold.

Finishing with a goal difference of +100, scoring 162 to their 62 conceded, Notts saw no reason why they couldn’t go all the way in the National Championships for a second season running.

With a bye in the first round, Notts brushed Birmingham aside 12-3, before, like their male counterparts, meeting with Trent in the semi-finals. A 13-6 victory sealed their place in BUCS Big Wednesday, the same team who they had quite comfortably seen off on the same date last year.

Exeter spent both years atop the Southern Premier division, scoring over 200 goals in both seasons, and so despite the previous year’s walkover, Exeter had a team capable of scoring plenty of goals.

Nottingham started the final strong, going into the first quarter 5-2 up, however a strong second quarter from their Southern rivals meant that the scores were level going into the second half. The third quarter was a low scoring affair, but one that belonged to Nottingham. Thanks for 3 goals and no reply, the Green and Gold saw themselves 10-7 up going into the final quarter, and with the game theirs to lose.

However, a herculean effort from Exeter saw them score five goals in 9 minutes, leaving Nottingham two goals down with six minutes on the clock. They left it three more minutes before they halved the deficit, and whilst it was a valiant fightback they could not manage to find the extra goal to force Exeter to golden goal, and they saw themselves fall short for the first time in 365 days.

The 2’s enjoyed a largely successful season in the league, coming third in the Premier 2’s division, winning 6 and only losing 1. Their trophy campaign saw some success, as they made it to the quarter finals before losing to a strong Liverpool first team.

This season, the Ladies Lacrosse team will be disappointed with anything but perfection.

After dominating the league so convincingly last season, combined with their success to make it to BBW last March, they will be expecting nothing but the same this year. They will look to shake off those demons of March in their opening game against Liverpool at home on the 14th October, and start their season off as they mean to go on.

They would hope to carry momentum through the season, aiming for a unbeaten year, and whilst they will have some focus on the league, the majority of the players will, even now, have the 24th March circled in red in their calendars.

Mike Armstrong brings a wealth of both playing and coaching experience to the side. Having represented England for nine years, from 2008-2017, his playing experience and knowledge will not only help develop the players already at the club, but also will strengthen the university’s ability to attract the country’s best lacrosse talent.

Matchday 1: 14/10/26 – Liverpool (H)

Matchday 2: 21/10/26 – Durham (H)

Matchday 3: 28/10/26 – Edinburgh (A)

Matchday 4: 04/11/26 – Birmingham (H)

Matchday 5: 11/11/26 – NTU (A)

Matchday 6: 18/11/26 – Liverpool (A)

Matchday 7: 25/11/26 – Durham (A)

Matchday 8: 02/12/26 – Edinburgh (H)

Matchday 9: 09/12/26 – Birmingham (A)

Matchday 10: 27/01/27 – NTU (H)

Featured Image courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.

In Article Image 1 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.

In Article Image 2 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.