Fresno State Athletics
Bulldogs Look Back on Year One
5/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
May 13, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - It's been almost a year since Sue Behme was introduced as the first-ever women's lacrosse coach at Fresno State. After the introductory press conference, Behme sat in her office and wondered, "Where do I start?"
The task wasn't going to be easy as assistant coaches needed to be hired, a team needed to be formed, equipment and uniforms needed to be ordered and the Central Valley community needed to be taught the rules of women's lacrosse.
A year later the foundation is in place for Behme and the women's lacrosse program at Fresno State.
"It is hard to believe that almost a year has gone by," Behme said. "Everything we need for the program and laying the foundation for the community and university are already in place. Now it is about taking everything to the next level on all levels."
Before we can talk about the Bulldogs getting to the next level, it is important to talk about the process Fresno State took to get to the next level in its inaugural season.
The first step was putting together a team. Once the team was assembled, the coaching staff had to do a lot of teaching as only six of the 23 players on the roster had ever played the sport.
"Everything that we had to do from day one to now revolved around the fact that we had to teach these players how to play," Behme said. "That alone is an enormous task in such a short period of time. We actually excelled and over achieved when it came to learning lacrosse and playing at the level they played at. We over achieved this year. There were so many things every game that we just did better."
As the teaching took place, players began to develop an understanding for the game and over the course of the season opponents began to notice marked improvement in the play of the team. The improvement showed in many of the statistically categories too as the `Dogs ranked sixth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in ground balls, fifth in caused turnovers and sixth in saves per game.
"The respect other teams have for us, not just on the west coast but throughout the country and the heart and sportsmanship that we showed was the greatest experience of the season for us," Behme said. "That was with some of the top teams in the country. Everybody is supporting us with what we are doing because they know how large of a task it is."
The Bulldogs accomplished a lot in what was a year of firsts. In the opening game, Molly Sovacool won the first ever draw control against Cal in the first home game. Seeing goalie Diana Aguilar make her first save and players pick up their first ground balls was exciting for Behme to see.
The historic first goal came at Stanford on Feb. 12 by Heather Jack.
"It was like we won a national championship," Behme said on Jack's goal. "It was monumental. It was great to have it against Stanford, a ranked team in the country."
Fresno State lived out of their suitcases for the majority of the season as they had only three home games at Bulldog Stadium. During those three games, the Bulldogs led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in attendance with an average of 575 fans a game. In the home-opener against Cal, 928 fans showed up to Bulldog Stadium while 578 fans showed up for Senior Day against Saint Mary's. In the final home game against the University of Denver 220 fans showed up for a Monday game at noon.
"We played Cal here in front of almost 1,000 people," Behme said. "To see that many fans come out is amazing. Our fans did it for three games. With the second one right before spring break we had almost 600 people. Our last game was at Noon on Monday and we had almost 300 people. That is what most people in general bring in on a weekend. I looked at that and said, `This is amazing that we had the support from the university faculty and staff along with our community.' You just don't find that."
With the help of players and assistant coaches, Behme spent a lot of time educating the Central Valley about the sport of lacrosse. The team put on free lacrosse clinics where by January and February as many as 200 people showed up to learn the sport. The expansion of the sport in the Valley has caught on as Fresno Unified School District has added the sport.
"So many of the girls in Fresno Unified have said `I never thought I would want to play a sport in high school' or they never thought they would want to try something new," Behme said. "It has all been positive and when the kids are saying that there is something to it."
The free lacrosse clinics are just one of the many things the Bulldogs did in the Central Valley Community. The Bulldogs won the hearts of the community this year as they performed almost 500 hours of community service in the Valley, earning the Fresno State Athletic Director's Community Service award.
"It's not all we are but doing community service is a big part of who we are," Behme said. "I have always felt that it is important. We did some great things. It is fun. No matter what we do and how big of a program we become there is always a bigger picture."
In year one, the team also saw work begin on a new lacrosse/soccer stadium east of Bulldog Stadium.
With year one in the books, Behme is already preparing for year two. During individual workouts the coaching staff has been impressed with how the returning players have approached their workouts.
"They are doing a great job and on another level," Behme said. "They are focused, committed, disciplined and very serious about it. That is a very powerful start to what we are doing. The returning players know the level they are expected to train and play at now. Because they have lived that they can internalize that and make choices on that valuable tool."
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